10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (NLT)
It is quite likely that most people in our world do not marry simply out of a notion of romantic love. Marriages are arranged. We need not agree this is a good or bad thing, but rather simply recognise that love and marriage can exist without the experience of falling in love.
There are dangers in putting too much emphasis on what we might call ‘romantic love’. Attraction fades, our passions ebb and flow, appearances change. If we can fall in love then it is logical we can fall out of love too.
Romantic love, nevertheless, is something to cherish even if we recognise its limitations and dangers. Christians are not to sneer at it from some elevated moral height. It is one expression of love.
The love God has for us is way beyond romantic love. It is clear-headed and yet passionate. It finds its ultimate expression not in some ethereal feeling but in a practical act: Jesus taking the burden of our sin on himself and opening up the way back to God. Love took the shape of an offer of mercy.
Love takes the shape not of a heart, but of a cross.
Blessings
David Reay
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