Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.

I married up. No doubt about it and I’m not afraid to admit it. Of course, anyone who knows Wendy already knows this is true and most who know her also pray for her because she married down! Still today, over 18 years later, I think of our wedding day and smile and am overwhelmed with the thought that God blessed me so greatly in Wendy. Yes, I married up.

I don’t know how it was for you when you married, if you married. For me, it wasn’t hard because I’d seen what was out there and so when I found this woman who was passionate about Jesus, was full of His grace and compassion and had a heart to minister, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Throw in the fact that she was wonderfully hand-crafted by the Lord (translation…smokin’ hot) and could see past how I looked, and marriage was an awesome celebration!! I was on that day, and still am today, the happiest man in the world.

God calls each of us to marry the good the same way I married Wendy. When she walked down the aisle, everything else faded away. The nerves, the fear, the disbelief that she had chosen me. It all just went away because she filled the room and filled my vision. I could see nothing but her, and when we see the good that God has called us to, it isn’t that we have to struggle to hate what is evil so much as it is that the good just overcomes it. Everywhere we go, everything we see reminds us of the good and how much better it is than anything else we could have married.

Today, you have the opportunity to show this world sincere love. Love that is not divided, not disguised, not fake. Love that is tenacious in the way it sees and holds onto good things, and is just as tenacious in the way it throws away the bad. Love that is glued to what is useful, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, excellent, upright and honorable. Love that won’t let any of those qualities go in the same way I will never let Wendy go, because we’d be fools if we did.

Love like that and watch the world shine as His glory overtakes the evil in it. Love like that and fulfill the will of God, which, at least for today, is simple…

Marry the good.