MY MARRIAGE IS HONOURABLE
MY MARRIAGE IS HONOURABLE
A DAILY DEVOTIONAL
FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
NIYI ODUNSI
TRUE LOVE
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it- Ephesians 5:25
The word “Love” is arguably the most abused word in the world. A woman can say she loves her husband, she loves chocolate and she loves her make-up, all in one breath. A man can say he loves his wife, he loves Manchester City and he loves his car. And you really can’t blame them. The world is confused about the meaning of the word “Love”.
The Oxford Dictionary says love is a feeling of deep affection. It also says love is a great interest and pleasure in something. Unfortunately when God commands a Husband to love his wife in our theme scripture, He’s not saying a husband should have a deep feeling of affection for his wife or a husband should have great interest and pleasure in his wife.
The word “Love” in our theme verse is the Greek word “Agapao” and it is just one of the Greek words translated into the English word “love” in the new Testament. Some other words are Phileo and Eros. These three Greek words mean three different things entirely and I will explain them in detail over the course of this weekend and next week.
Generally speaking, Agapao (Agape) is what is known as the God kind of Love, divine Love or sacrificial Love. Phileo is what is generally referred to as Friendship or brotherly love and Eros is sensual or physical love. One of the main reasons why more than half of marriages contacted worldwide end up failing, even amongst Christians, is because folks don’t know these words exist and they don’t know the meaning of these words.
These three kinds of “Love” are required to make a marriage successful. However, of these three kinds of “Love”, Agape stands out and it is the most important. A marriage can succeed with Agape alone but it cannot succeed on just Phileo or just Eros. It cannot even succeed with just Phileo and Eros, without agape.
My reference to a successful marriage here can best be explained as follows. If reincarnation was real, (please note that its not) would you choose to be married to your spouse all over again? We will continue this discussion tomorrow, as we examine Agape much more.
PRAYER
Father, I thank you for your Love that’s shed abroad in my heart. I thank you for teaching me about “Agape” and I ask for the Grace to walk in this all important Love towards my spouse every day. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY
Ephesians 5:25, Ephesians 5:28, Ephesians 5:33