Looking for love and I found gratitude

Looking for love and I found gratitude

The other night I was looking for a biblical verse pertaining to gratitude. I looked through the glossary and I didn’t see anything. Then this morning I was looking for the passage where Paul talks about love and I opened up to  and passage on gratitude: Philippians 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.

Then I found the passages I was looking for 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

Then I found what I was looking for in Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one." This is a great mystery, and I take it to mean Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband; (Ephesians 5:25-33 RSV)

I believe I read it in one of Denis Waitley’s books a definition that I liked: Choosing only that which is good and giving value to others.

I’ve learned in previous relationships that sex isn’t love. I have researched this before and I found a scripture pertaining to protection and providing:  "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” 1 Timothy 5:8, “Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them” Colossians 3:19 and “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers” 1 Peter 3:7.

Now when I mix this all up in my head it makes me think of how I love my son’s Devin when he was two years old was mean, defiant and raging but I still loved him. Collin was more withdrawn, he would spurn me and put the shun on me but I still love him. So if men including myself love their wives in the same way. It shouldn’t matter how our wife acts towards us. We still need to love them. That is so hard. I remember going through my divorce. It hurt so badly when my ex-wife was being harsh with me. I couldn’t take it. She had made up her mind that we were going to be no longer and I couldn’t be forgiving enough or gracious enough. She was moving on and she made herself so vile I just had to let go.

She always told me that “Love is a decision” That works until someone changes their mind. After going through all of this, I am grateful that Jesus gives us unconditional love. It has taken me a while to realize that that is the love that really matters and it makes it easier to love our wives and our children no Matter how much they don’t love you back. One isn’t a factor of the other.