“I Loved Myself Enough to Walk Away”

These were the words from Jennifer Lopez’s mouth in her first interview after announcing her divorce from Marc Anthony. It came as quite a surprise because they seemed to have a very strong marriage. But it ultimately crumbled down. I don’t know the reasons for the divorce, therefore I don’t pretend to be the judge of her actions either. But all this hype with the divorce got me thinking about marriage.

Out of all people, Christians should most understand the sacredness of marriage. Not only because God established it so, but because these earthly marriages that take place every day between a man and a woman are a reflection of the marriage that will take place between Jesus and His bride (the Church). It’s a covenant that is supposed to last forever or until one of them dies [this is what the bride and groom promise each other during their wedding vows], but somehow, this bond, this promise can be broken. Divorces are getting more and more common, and they seem to me like an easy way out when you don’t want to make things work between two imperfect humans anymore.

Now think about the real marriage, the one humans try to mirror, the one between Jesus and the Church. It’s a marriage that will take place when Jesus comes back again for us. It’s not a marriage between two imperfect humans. It’s a marriage between one sinless, incarnate God and a redeemed, imperfect bride in process of sanctification.

When I think about Jennifer Lopez’s words, “I Loved myself enough to walk away”, all I can think about is: What would have happened if Jesus decided to say those words to us? We are, after all, a bride that fails Him over and over, a bride that can’t love Him the way He loves us, a bride that gets cold feet from time to time, a bride that even cheats on Him with other lovers. If we [as humans] were ever planning on marrying a bride like that, we probably would decide to not marry her after all because she doesn’t deserve our love.

BUT thank God that, even though He’s the only one who truly has a right to walk away from such a bride, HE DOESN’T! He doesn’t give up and walk away! On the contrary, every time we fail Him and sin against Him, He is gracious and forgiving, and He reminds us that there is nothing in this world [not even ourselves] that will break the covenant that He promised would last for all eternity.

A perfect God who had every right to boast on all His glory made Himself a servant, died on a cross and was scorned by those He came to save. He definitely put His pride and His self-love to a side because He wouldn’t walk away from the bride He loves.

When you feel like you are failing God, that you are being unfaithful, remember the love with which He loved you, remember the everlasting covenant He has made with you, and pray so that He helps you love Him the way He deserves. Thank Him for His unfailing love today!

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.      -Romans 8:38-39

I’ll leave you with Chris Tomlin’s “Unfailing Love”.

Service through another lens

Sometimes we limit service to charity events, mission trips, Sunday school or any other stuff we can do at church. And yes, all these things are part of service. But lately, I’ve been discovering a new kind of service that goes beyond me in action.

Recently, my family and I got a new camera, the Nikon D5100.

It was a bit surreal for me because I didn’t think I would own a DSLR right now. In my life plan and in my mind, I would not get this camera any time soon. But the Lord somehow managed to surprise me and give me  just the camera that I wanted so much earlier than I would’ve ever expected. I was and still am thankful. Now, there are two ways in which I could’ve decided to use my camera:

I COULD’VE BEEN OVERPROTECTIVE OF MY CAMERA, and rightfully so; you know? It’s more expensive than a regular camera, and I want to keep it in its best condition for as long as possible. This doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t use it for church service, but it meant that I would be the only one operating it.

OR

I COULD’VE BEEN DETACHED and made it available for the service in the church. That meant that maybe I would not be the only one using the camera. That meant that I might be lending the camera to someone else to use at church events, etc.

I decided to make this God-given camera completely available to my church. If God gave me this camera in the first place, and  so much earlier than I thought, why would I be selfish about it? There must be a reason why He gave it to me. Besides, all material possessions fade away. No matter how much I take care of it, it will end up breaking down.

You know what the funny thing is? The moment I decided to let it go and give it completely to God, He opened up doors for many opportunities where the Nikon could be used for eternal purposes. The camera arrived to my hands the first weeks of June, and ever since, it’s been used more for church activities than for my own personal use. And I’m fine with that!

During this month and a half, we’ve had a three-day Conference with speaker Paul Tripp, our annual youth camp, and a week-long medical outreach with the GHO team and a team from Sovereign Grace who flew in to serve. Two of these events are the most important events my church has in the year and require a lot of planning. All these events have been covered with my camera (not necessarily by me), and I couldn’t have thought of a better use for it.

My church does have a camera, and I could use that as an excuse to keep it to myself. But I know that the photos will turn out better with my camera. Shouldn’t I then strive to do everything–especially church service–in the best way I can, remembering that I’m doing this for God?

Be detached, especially when it comes to serving God! There were moments when I wasn’t able to go to that church event I was supposed to cover, and someone would ask for my camera to take the pictures. I had to make a decision: selfishness or detachment. I decided to be detached, and it has proven to be very rewarding so far. In my case, I had to get detached from a camera. Your case can be different, you might need to get detached from something else. But don’t be afraid to give your things away for God’s service; that’s the best way any material possession can be invested. And the Lord rewards a willing heart.