Make Love a Verb

What do these words all have in common?

*Run

*Hop

*Skip

*Love

Give up?

These words are all VERBS. The definition of a Verb is: a word that denotes an action, an occurrence, or a state of being.

So, what's love got to do, got to do with it? (Thank you, Tina!)

Love is a verb. Love is something you do for someone else. Contrary to popular/cultural belief, it's not a feeling; it's an action.

Andy Stanley did a message series called Staying In Love about a year ago at Browns Bridge Community Church. This message series did more to bloom my marriage with Scott than any book, lesson, talk, etc. We are both very excited to go through the series again now with our small group. Hoping even more positive blooms come forth. The entire premise of Andy's message is that we need to MAKE LOVE...A VERB. Implication intended. :)

Andy concentrates on this passage of scripture:

Philippians 2:3-8"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!"

It's the first part of these verses that strikes me the most..."Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves..."

Wouldn't the world surely be a different place -- wouldn't our marriages be different -- if we all valued others above ourselves?

Last week in our small group, we had an amazing discussion about "mutual submission." Submission is such an ugly word in today's society, but it's quite the opposite in light of how God intended submission to be.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition." Don't do something to make sure you win, you get your way, you manipulate your spouse...hmmm.

"Do nothing out of vain conceit." Don't do something your spouse doesn't appreciate (or has asked you out right not to do) simply because you want to, you can, you think you have the right to...ouch.

"In humility value others above yourselves." Treat your spouse as though he is more important than you are. 

Sound too hard to do? Well, just imagine this:

How different would your marriage be if your husband treated YOU as if YOU were more important than him? Think about that for a minute...would you treat your husband better? would you be sweeter? more thoughtful? more intimate?

Turn that around one more time...if you treated your husband as if HE was more important - do you think he would treat you better? would he be sweeter? more thoughtful? more romantic?

Now, just imagine if you BOTH valued one another above the other. THAT is the jackpot! That is what mutual submission truly means.

It's worked for us :)

 

And, in the words of Andy Stanley...if you make love a verb, you'll make love more often. :)