Sorry I missed a few days. I haven't missed reading, just had trouble logging on to blog. I am still amazed with the content of these chapters. How can the authors gather so much clear explanation about love? I am convinced this is the best I have read by far. The other thing that amazes me is that they deliver it in such brief segments. I can't wait to study the next chapter each day, and this week sure did not disappoint me. For instance, day 24, love vs. lust... says lust is in opposition to love. It means to set your heart and passions on something forbidden. It's time to expose lust for what it really is - misguided thirst for satisfaction that only God can fulfill. Then, day 25, Love forgives... says forgiveness has to happen, or a successful marriage won't. This is the area of marriage you have to get good at. And then today, day 27, Love encourages... deals with expectations being unfulfilled. Divorce is nearly inevitable when people refuse to allow their spouses to be human. So there needs to be a transition in your thinking. You must choose to live by encouragement rather than expectations. Near the end of the chapter, the author asks, Don't you want married life to be a place where you can enjoy free expression of who you are, growing within a safe environment that encourages you even when you fail? Your spouse does too - and love gives them that privilege. This is really good stuff. Let's keep reading!

The information in Day 19 and Day 20 is no doubt the most important information in the whole book. Only though having the power of God and the love of God in our lives are we able to love the way Love Dare is leading us to love. Ask God to show you where you stand with Him and ask Him for the strength and grace to settle this important matter of where you will spend eternity.

It is enjoyable to be studying the love dare book during Valentine's Day weekend. I hope a lot of couples are experiencing new life in their marriage because of the contents of this great book. Even if you are not in a "couple" relationship right now, no doubt you are enjoying learning more about what love really is and how God wants His love to be in you to make a difference in others all around you. Page 81 says each of us comes into life with an inborn hunger to be known, loved, and accepted. God will use you to meet that need in others, and for those of us who are married, to meet that need in our mate.
I like the way the book continues the theme of Love "Dare". Page 76 says There is no guarantee that anything in this book will change your spouse. But that is not what this book is about. It's about you daring to love. If you take the love dare seriously, there is a high likelihood that you will be personally changed from the inside out. Page 83 says The reality of intimacy always takes time to develop, especially after being compromised. But your commitment to re-establish it can happen today-for anyone willing to take the dare.

Monday's chapter from the Love Dare book (day 15) was especially powerful. Very few marriages live up to the high standard this chapter sets, but this is exactly what God intended for all marriages. God help me, God help us, to see my mate through your eyes, and to understand from your perspective how to honor her and to treat our marriage as the "HOLY" institution you made. Love dares to say (page 73) "of all the relationships I have, I will value ours the most. Of all the things I'm willing to sacrifice, I will sacrifice the most for you. With all your failures, sins, mistakes, and faults - past and present - I still choose to love and honor you."

God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8 The Love Dare Series of services has been one of the most enjoyable for me because I have learned something every time I pick up the Love Dare Book. It not only challenges me to love Marsha in a much greater way, I am challenged because I see more than ever that God wants His love residing in me and for me to be an agent or giver of His Agape love. On page 47 of the Love Dare book it says, God doesn't love us because we are lovable but because He is loving. If He insisted that we prove ourselves worthy of His love, we would fail miserably. But God's love is a choice He makes completely on His own. It's something we receive from Him and then share with others. "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19)
It is my desire to see you read the Love Dare book with me and let's learn together how to love God's way.