He Can't Love Her!

A phrase I have had to remember a lot lately is, "Lost people are going to act lost." It helps to give grace to the unsaved, because you stop expecting them to do right because they do not know what that is and they do not have the Holy Spirit to guide them.

Three days ago, Jennifer, who I have much to update on, and I went to the market. On the way home, we were reviewing the commands to the husband and wife from Ephesians 5.  We discussed the fact that there is no "if he/she, then" do what is commanded.

The next day on her way to work, Jennifer's husband walked with her most of the way to work. Then in the road, he made a spectacle and told her to get out of the house and go back to her mother. When I saw her, she was terribly upset. We prayed. I shared scripture. She told me she was going to leave work early to go pack her stuff. I tried to encourage her to let the Holy Spirit guide her in speaking or keeping silent and in what to do. I told her to let me know if/when she needed help.  I waited for her to show up but hoped he would have changed his mind.

When he saw her packing, he asked why. She told him she was doing what he told her. He ran to his family member confessing what had happened. They came and pleaded with her to stay. She agreed.

Yesterday as she told me what had transpired, that phrase about lost acting lost came to my mind. Then I was reminded. She has submitted her life to Christ and has the Holy Spirit.  He does not. He cannot love her like Ephesians 5 commands because he is not a believer. That is why a verse precedes the command to husband and wife, that they must be mutually submitted to the Lord first.

I, in my flesh, struggle at times to submit to my husband, not because of my husband, but because of my own human nature. How much more does Jennifer struggle when her husband is not a believer. He cannot love her the way the Lord commands and she longs to be loved.