LIFE & FAITH: The Perspective of a Bride
Jan 8th, 2008 by azdean
Yesterday, I talked a little about how our worldview can effect our politics, but our worldview also effects our daily lives. This is because our worldview shapes our attitudes and perspectives on life.
What is your attitude on life?
For me, I think Christians should have a fantastic perspective on life, if only because our God loves us so much, but it goes so much further than that. Just consider for a moment how as a Christian we are part of what is called the “Bride of Christ”.
Now being a bride is one of the most joyous times in the the life of a woman. You can catch that sense of joy and expectancy as a bride walks down the isle to her groom.
The thing that especially gives away a bride is the look of love in her eyes. She doesn’t have to say anything. She doesn’t have to prove anything. She doesn’t have to make announcements or speeches.
Everyone can see her raised countenance, her uplifted poise, her gentle smile, her soft demeanor. But more than anything, they see the light in her eyes — especially when she sees her groom.
The funny thing is that Jesus said that when you do things for the “least of these”, you have done it to Him. So, when the Bride of Christ reaches out to those around her, she is not only demonstrating love to the hurting around her, she is not only carrying out the will of the one she loves, but she is also seeing the very one she loves — for she can see Jesus in them — and they can see the look of love in her eyes — not just a look of compassion for them — but a look of love in her eyes for her groom.
That is, they can if we the Bride of Christ have the right attitude and the right perspective.
Think of it. We are not just carriers of His love to others. We are a bride who sees our beloved, the one we love, in the very ones around us who we care for.
But let’s take this perspective a little further.
When a bride is about to be married (as my own daughter was last Spring), she is on a mission. All her energy and focus is on one thing. She has a purpose and all plans must line up to meet those ends. She has a goal that animates her every move.
Now, wisdom is in part seeing what is true at a deeper level, and in this case wisdom sees that there is something really amazing going on here. As Christians, we are preparing ourselves for our wedding day and our love is awaiting us. Wisdom then is to see that there is a mission, a purpose, a plan and a goal for our lives. And that purpose is in part to prepare ourselves as a spotless bride ready to be with our love.
But wisdom is also in seeing that we have a chance to meet with our groom everyday, not only in the spirit, but also in the flesh, even to the “least of these” that we meet and help.
Wisdom is seeing how real our wedding is, and thus acting like we are truly a bride. Wisdom is understanding how deeply in love our groom is and allowing that to flood our lives with joy, peace and happiness. Wisdom is seeing Him in those we love, and not just loving them because that is the “right” thing to do, but because in loving them we have a chance to love our groom.
The heroes of the Bible knew there was something much bigger going on and that perspective changed the reality of their daily lives. Our lives will remain unchanged as long as our perspectives and attitudes fail to see that bigger picture. It’s time to let wisdom — really God’s worldview — shine into our lives and change our perspective — and our very appearance — for the world should be able to see the look of a bride in our eyes.
