The Bride

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom.”- John 3:29

Wedding season is in full force! I am seeing pictures of beautiful brides, awesome celebrations, and good looking cakes all over my Facebook news feed. Isn’t it great to celebrate the joining of two lives as one, the exchanging of vows, and that moment they have to kiss (which, for some, has become a thing for people to plan out). It is a great occasion to bring family together and share in the day the husband and wife can be introduced as Mr. & Mrs. ____________.

The marriage ceremony is not just a time to celebrate these two, but a way to visualize our connection with our Creator, Jesus. It is a fantastic symbol and creates a deeper understanding of who we are in His eyes. We all have been awestruck by the beautiful bride walking down the aisle. We have seen the face of the groom when he finally sets eyes on the partner he will share his life with. I remember watching my beautiful bride coming down the aisle and recognizing that I was receiving a gift from God that I had to protect and cherish. How amazing it is that all our emotions we feel are not even remotely close to how our Savior feels about us!

Now, let’s address the hard part of the relationship. As I stated earlier, through this event, the couple now becomes one. They are no longer living a singular life. They no longer only have one person to represent, but two. This is why it gets hard.

When we walk with each other in marriage our attitude, our anger, our laughter, our humor, our service, our love, and much more reflects on our spouse. Be honest: when you meet someone who is not particularly nice and you know they are married, you instantly feel bad for the person married to that person…don’t you? Or, if you meet someone you like, don’t you let that spouse know how lucky they must feel or how wonderful they are? Maybe, you’re like me and if I meet a nice person who is married I automatically think “They must be such a great family”.

You see, we place the image of the person we meet on the image of their spouse and family. Our attitudes reflect on our household. Now, let’s take it to Jesus as our groom. If we claim to know Jesus, but treat people like dirt, how can anyone want to meet our spouse? If we are angry all the time, how does that reflect on our groom? As the bride of Christ we need to be living a life that reflects well on our Creator.

The Church was designed by Christ for His glory. We are His bride, meant to carry His message, representing Him well, so His name is known. If we are proclaiming Christ’s name, but our image in the community is poor, then we misrepresent the name and possibly ruin it. Let us live a life reflecting our groom the way He wants the world to know Him. Let us be the bride He has called us to be: loving and caring for those He created.

Question: How are we doing as the Church? Do you feel this is an accurate view of our role as the bride or even as a spouse?