“How am I supposed to show love to somebody who constantly rejects me?”
This line in the upcoming movie, FIREPROOF, marks the beginning of a revelation in Caleb’s life that will lead him first to the love of Christ and then to a love for his wife.
Are you making plans to see this movie on opening weekend? FIREPROOF opens this Friday, September 26, and will be playing in over 800 theaters nationwide. Your investment of time and ticket prices will be well worth it!
Why am I so sold on FIREPROOF? Because I believe more than anything that seeing this movie will give you hope for your marriage. You might be thinking that it’s way too late to save your marriage, but hold on, dear friend!
You may be saying, “Yeah, but I’ve tried everything to make this marriage work, and nothing’s working! We gave it a shot, but I just can’t give any more. We fight all the time. He’s been unfaithful. She spends more money than we make. We don’t agree on anything. I’m not sure if the love’s even there. Even if I tried to work it out and make things better, how am I supposed to love somebody who constantly rejects me?”
When Caleb Holt (played by Kirk Cameron) asked this question, his father explained that this is the love that Jesus Christ showed to us on the cross. Think about that for a while. Jesus didn’t come to die on the cross because we loved Him and were looking for a way to know Him personally. He suffered and bled and died for those who rejected Him. He sacrificed His body in demonstration of a love that goes beyond all human reason. The Bible says it this way: “But while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
That’s not a love I can figure out. I can’t explain how anyone would willingly die for those who would scoff and torture him. I can’t comprehend a man who could look at the Roman soldiers spitting in His face, crowning Him mockingly with thorns, and driving nails into His hands and feet, and somehow voice an audible prayer to God, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
A true understanding of such a love comes only by divine revelation. God has revealed in His holy Word that He loved this world so much that He gave His one and only Son over to death in our place so that we would not have to suffer His wrath against sin, but instead have everlasting life.
Friend, if you’ll open your heart to God, He will reveal how great His merciful loving-kindness is toward you. Even though you’ve constantly rejected Him, He has shown His love for you. And as long as you’re still breathing, He gives you the invitation to receive His love by receiving Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
In this love God forgives your sin, erases your guilt and removes your shame. In this love God fills you up with peace, with joy and with love. He transforms your life from self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness. He dwells within your heart through faith and keeps you in step with His Spirit so that you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. It’s like being born again. Do you know God’s love for you today?
When God revealed this love to Caleb, he received Christ’s sacrifice for his sins and received new life in Christ. And only then could Caleb begin showing that same Christ-like love to his wife who constantly rejected him. He learned that he could not give a love that he did not have.
What about you? The hope for your marriage is the love of Christ Jesus. The only hope for salvation from death and hell is the love of Christ Jesus. If your marriage or your life needs desperately to be saved or strengthened, cry out to Jesus and fall upon His mercy and grace. He can make your life and your marriage fireproof.
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