Love That Looks Like the Cross

What does it truly mean to love? Not the kind of love the world sells us, filtered through social media and conditional on feelings, but the kind of love that costs something. Drawing from Ephesians 5 and John 13, we are challenged to measure our love against the highest standard ever set: the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul's instruction to the church at Ephesus was not abstract theology; it was a practical call to live out a love that sacrifices, sanctifies, and nourishes. When Paul describes how a husband ought to love his wife as Christ loved the church, he is painting a picture of love that gave everything without condition, without a 'but,' without an exit clause. This message pushes us to ask ourselves an uncomfortable question: if Christ loved us the way we love others, where would we be? The answer to that question is the beginning of a deeper, more honest faith journey.