What does bold love bring to mind for you? I think of moms. Loving a newborn, feeding and nurturing a child while working through all the stages of exhaustion is not for the faint of heart. And that is just the start of a life-long journey of a mother’s love for her child. Moms boldly love their kids through the peaks and valleys of life.
I also think of Billy Graham and his love for sinners. Through his relationship with Jesus the Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Reverend Graham filled stadiums to boldly love folks into the Kingdom. He shared the gospel, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as our Savior. Coach Bill McCartney’s love for lost men had an impact on me. Through his Promise Keepers movement that also filled stadiums across the nation, he boldly loved men into the Kingdom.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16. Bold love indeed! “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Matthew 22:36-39. The call is to reflect the love of the Father, extended through the life, death and resurrection of His Son back to Him, and boldly love others where He has us. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. – Ephesians 5:25. Marriage is the foundational relationship from which the love of Christ is to emanate across the generations. As husbands love their wives, children witness their first glance of what a relationship with Christ looks like. It is a dad’s responsibility to boldly love by selflessly and sacrificially giving himself up for his bride. This is God’s design for family and the Church. Because we are human, marriages fail and we fall short of the glory God intends for all. The tendency may be to give up on the design, but that is not an option. The charge is to live into the design better today than yesterday and to grow in the ability to boldly love as Christ loves. It may not fill stadiums but a generation depends on dads accepting responsibility to boldly love as Christ loves.
Tips to Boldly Love:
Be more Christ-like today than yesterday;
Own your marriage vows;
Learn to love as Christ loves;
Die to self.
Prayer guide: Father, thank You for Your word and the love You have shown me through Your Son. I confess I discounted Your design for love in family early on because I did not witness a good example in the home I grew up in. Forgive me. Thank You for other examples You brought into my life that opened my heart to Your Standard. Grant me strength to boldly love as You love. Help me raise my family under Your love in such a way as to impact generations to follow. That is the dad You call me to be and that’s the dad my kids need to see. Amen.
A faithful father boldly loves as Christ loves.
