"Love Believes the Best," Part 3

Welcome back to the allegory of two rooms that lie deep within our heart. Part 1 introduced the Appreciation Room, followed by last week’s sobering look at the Depreciation Room. Today, we wrap up by examining choices we face between the two.

Here is the truth: Love knows about the Depreciation Room, but chooses not to live there. Love comes from God (1 John 4:7), so in seeking His design for marriage, we must follow the ways of love. We need to stop running to the Depreciation Room after every disappointment. Failure to do so robs a marriage of joy and puts it at risk. Love calls you to think and act differently. The only reason to peak into the Depreciation Room is to know how to pray for your spouse. And when you go there, write on the walls in huge letters “COVERED IN LOVE”.

Allow me to rephrase our opening theme verse from 1 Corinthians 13:7 — “Love chooses to believe the best and hope the best.” We resist snap judgements and negative assumptions. We give others the benefit of the doubt. And should the worst come true, we deal with it as positively as possible.

Bob Lepine adds that love is tenacious like a Bulldog. It doesn’t blindly believe, but it remains optimistic and fights for our marriage. Our spouse needs the encouragement of our believing and remaining hopeful, even in adversity or when they have lost all hope. We give this as a gift — not because they provide us a reason to do so, rather as a reflection of our faith in God.

Jesus declared that He is the light of the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light. The Apostle Paul likewise notes our tendency to live by the flesh instead of the spirit. Our human nature is to follow the sinful desires of our heart, but we are called to live in the light. This means leading your heart to truly love your spouse. This means living in the Appreciation Room. It’s time to stop dwelling on their negatives and concentrate instead on positives. In doing so, you will likely uncover hidden talents and dreams that are waiting to be explored.

The decision is yours alone — and one you must make whether they deserve it or not. Remember that we are all undeserving of God’s love and grace, yet He does so anyway. As a follower of Christ, you are called to show unconditional love and grace to others. I encourage you to pray for God’s strength to do this for your spouse, especially in difficult times.

Amen!