October 07, 2025
TCOASAS
Love Model
Contrary to popular belief, inside of Christ's model, Love IS what you make it. I think you would agree that there is more to love than the, "Oh, I want that body" idea that media throws out there. Probably, if you were to describe it you would say something like, it is that deep down feeling that motivates and accelerates a passion or drive to be with a person. I think this is one of the biggest love misconceptions in the book!
I hear that love always protects. When I hear the word protect the first mental picture I get is a knight, straining in his saddle to keep his cool. Under his gloves his hands are sweaty and he can barley grip his lance. He waits, his eyes ignoring the drops of fear and rain running down his face as the terrible fire-breathing dragon approaches. His horse is prancing from side to side in angst, nostrils flaring, as the thunder of the giant's footsteps grows nearer. Yeah, yeah, so you get the point.
Do you think that our knight decided one morning that is what he wanted to do with his life? Do you suppose that before that morning he was some random peasant, working in the local market minding his own business, with no concept of the dangers outside the castle gates? No, this squire has trained for years. From a small child he was mentored by a knight. He watched, ever so often, as his master fought for his reputation and the pride of his king.
Every morning our young squire would get his masters horse ready. From feeding and grooming that stallion, to polishing its saddle, to fitting his master with his armor, this boy was taught all there was to know about being a knight.
Then one day his master said, It is time. and this boy started his transformation to knighthood. Through grueling rounds of ground combat practice to the hours of horseback riding to perfect controlling his mount, this man became a training machine. Finally, after passing his test, the king knights him Sir Protects-a-lot.
When it was said that love always protects, I don't think it meant that love would simply know when the time was right and then act to protect. I think this was said knowing that true love is always working to protect, continually practicing so that when the time comes, and protection is desperately needed, love will act in second nature to defend its cause.
It is also written that love always trusts. Trust is often mistaken for gratification. We assume that we trust because we get a satisfaction from knowing that we have not been hurt. Then it happens, all of that hope that we stack so precariously on top of that unearned gratification falls to the ground. It shatters into as many pieces as a crystal vase, leaving the once beautiful flowers of our heart wilting in the wreckage and disaster. You see, trust also takes work. It takes a realization of Christs model of the church, as the bride of Christ, to understand how trust really works.
For example, God so loved the world that He gave his only Son to die for the filth and vomit of our rebellion. God sent Him as a ransom for the bondage of our rebellion to the very example His Son set for us while he walked the very streets we walk and lived the very life we live. We were bought from our chains and should be treated as nothing more than slaves. We should be assigned to the labor of the filthiest job we could imagine and sentenced to that pain till the end of our days. But if it wasn't enough that he fronted the cost for our freedom, he accepted us, and is planning to marry us when he returns.
What does Jesus Christ expect from us in return? He expects a relationship. He doesn't demand it from us. He simply allows us the space and time to realize what he gave up in exchange for our freedom. The only stipulation He has, is that we have one lifetime to make our choice.
He gave the ultimate gift of His own life. With His very last heartbeat, when what little blood he had left in his veins was exchanged through his lungs, and the last bit of oxygen was transported to his brain, His actions said, I love you. He gave His very last so we could have a choice. Not so we were forced to choose Him, not so we were under a guilt trip, simply so that we would have a choice.
What Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, with the power to command love from us, did next was incredible. After He handed us the ultimate sacrifice, He sat back and trusted us. He didnt say I'll trust you if you look like you might not hurt me by rejecting me. He didnt say I'll trust you as soon as you prove yourself. He simply said, that whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life.
When compared to the model Christ gave us, you begin to see, trust takes work as well. Its the choice of giving up control of the situation and letting someone have a choice. It takes the hard work of making hundreds of little choices to make sure that person has a choice. Ask yourself, in the end, do you really have a control of that person?
Hope is a third requirement for true love. I'm not sure that I have a very good analogy for hope but I do know that it goes hand in hand with faith. If you were to ask me to define it, I would say hope is what dreams are made of, its the desire that dives you to perseverance. Its what holds the rest of love together.
If love always hopes, I hope you always realize the significance of the gift that Christ gave you. I hope you will have the grace to see through the flaws of those you love, and I hope that you will recognize love when it is given to you.
The last "always" with love is perseverance. This element is derived from the act of protecting, complete trust, and the hope that holds that together. To persevere you have to be hoping in a direction you believe in, you have to trust the other person with the freedom to mess up, and in the end you have to stand up for the one you love even when they get it wrong. Perseverance requires a lot of patience.
Yes, very contrary to popular belief, love is patient, meaning that it will wait even when hope is weak. It will forgive all four hundred and ninety times and find the grace to keep forgiving. Love is kind, acting in gentleness, to build and protect and kindness can protect and nurture if it is well practiced.
There is no envy in love, it doesnt envy a newer model, it doesnt envy attention from the current model, but it does allow for the freedom of accomplishment. It doesnt brag, in fact, it is the perfect picture of humility. Love selflessly overlooks offences to the point it forgets the offence took place. The person of love is pure truth completely incompatible with the evil, thoughts, words, and actions that would otherwise destroy the relationship. Id say none of that is easy. This picture of love is most definitely not the one painted by our culture today!
I would like to interview the person that says this picture is not what they want in their relationships! I keep looking for the few people that live this model out but they are few and far between. I am more than afraid that this picture of love has become more of a thought in the back of our heads, and when someone says, I love you and in our society it means, I have this strong feeling that is driving me to action with you. Love really has been distorted.
I think people are afraid of this concept. At first it seems like you have to give up that feeling, that this model is not the fun thing to do. I think people reject this model because, like I said earlier, Its an idea that will never work. However, in time, if you stick with it and learn to love the way that Jesus loves us, it pays in the end. I think you'll find that this is the type of love is what you were looking for all along.
You will find that the type of person you can actually spend your whole life with, is the type of person that understands this type of love. The type of person that is working to show you the same protection, trust, hope, perseverance, and love that Jesus Christ has shown them.