Loving God's Way

Who is your biggest fan?

That question should cause you to consider how your spouse would answer it. Husbands and wives should be the biggest fan of one another.

What does that mean? For one thing, it means we pray for one another. We protect one another. We show genuine compassion for one another. We want to be a part of the solutions rather than complicate problems. Further, it is crucial that we cheer for one another.

I remember a time not long ago when I was speaking at a conference with some very high-profile religious leaders. Beverley, my wife, could tell I was nervous and that this engagement was important to me. I delivered my message and gave it my best. As we were walking out of the convention hall, Beverley slipped her arm through mine, looked at me and said, "I was proud of you tonight." I can't tell you how much that meant to me. The one who mattered most had affirmed me.

Take a few minutes to think over the last few weeks through a relational lens. Did you affirm your spouse and your children regularly? Did you look for the positive in each of them rather than the negative? Did you take the time to ask, "How are you doing?" Did you, by your words, actions and deeds, express an unconditional love? Did you live your faith as an example?

Let us seek to love one another as God has loved us. When we do, we'll find that we've become the biggest fan our spouses have ever had.


Taken from Focus on the Family magazine, September, 2008.
Article copyright © 2008, Focus on the Family.
All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
Used by permission

Dr. H.B. London is the vice president of Pastoral Ministries for Focus on the Family and the author of numerous books on and for pastors. He served as a Nazarene pastor for over 30 years in several churches in Oregon and California. He and his wife, Beverley, live primarily in Colorado Springs, Colo., and have two sons and four grandchildren.