…There was a young man with a wife and five young children.  He and the wife had been married for around 15 years.  One evening things became a little hot in the household between the husband and wife, and the husband did not like it so he slipped on his insulated coveralls, and walked out the door with the intention of never returning.

The weather outside was not real pleasant.  There was a slow steady, falling rain.   It was a little cool; even with the coveralls on.  There was a whole lot of anger, even some hatred, for what had been said.  He had said a few things himself that were not good concerning his wife.

In the cool and the rain he walked through the woods, down the hills, crossing branches which flowed with a little water.  All the time feeling sorry for himself, and still thinking in his mind, “I am not going back.  I will just keep going, and going, and live in the woods the rest of my life if I need to do so.”  He had no place to go, and he probably could have survived alone, and in the cool.

There was a decision this young man was needing to make.  It was a decision concerning his marriage, his wife whom he had loved and cherished for these 15 years.  There had never been another person come between the two of them.  There were no “affairs”.  Their lives together had been rough.  Struggling financially, spiritually, but growing in the Lord, on their journey together.  Now, however, things had suddenly changed.  He was done.  He could not handle the grief, the complaints, even his own.  He was not returning.

He reached an old hay barn, went inside, sat on the hay… and prayed.  The voice of the Lord spoke to his heart, and the question came to him, “Don’t you love her anymore?”  This required a decision.  Does he love her anymore?  Does he care for her at all?  Does he want to spend the rest of his life with her or not????

Thoughts flooded his mind.  The fifteen years, the five children, the love they had shared together as husband and wife.  Even the struggles they had shared together, though not pleasant, she had remained faithful to him.  By the time all these thoughts had flooded his mind the answer to that question, “Don’t you love her anymore?” seemed it deserved a good answer.  YES!!! Was the answer.

The young man got up off the hay, walked back to the house, asked his wife for forgiveness, and things were well again.  The young man was myself. 

I tell this story because we are filled with fires of emotion when we first wed.  Lust could be a better answer.  That fire that is sometimes called love is weak, and it will not endure the tests of the years.  You grow in love with one another.  You even get used to one another.  Love from God is much more than an emotion; it is a decision, an act of devotion.

When Paul the apostle wrote, “Husbands, love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her” this is the love he had in mind.  The love that abides forever.  The love that sticks through thick or thin.  It is the love that never fails.  That is the love of Jesus Christ for you.

By the grace of God 19 years has passed since that night.  We have now been husband and wife for 34 years, and to be honest with you our relationship has only improved.  I love that woman – my bride – more today than I did the day we were married.