Can you honestly say you love your spouse the way Christ loves the church? For most of us, the answer is no—because in our own strength, it's impossible.

In this episode of Words From The Word, Pastor Roderick Webster reveals the truth most Christians miss: God didn't command sacrificial love and then leave you to figure it out alone. Romans 5:5 says He already put His love in your heart by the Holy Spirit.

The world's love is conditional—based on attractiveness, success, personality. When those fade, the love dies. But God's love is different. He loves because it's His nature, and because you need to be loved—not because you deserve it.

Pastor Webster opens Ephesians 5 and Romans 5 to show God's supernatural provision: the capacity to love sacrificially is already in you. Now you just have to choose it.

✓ How can I love my spouse when I don't feel it anymore?
✓ What's the difference between the world's love and God's love?
✓ Can God really change my capacity to love?
✓ Is sacrificial love actually possible for ordinary Christians?
✓ Why are Christian marriages failing at the same rate as the world?

🔹 The Church Is Following the World
Christian divorce rates mirror secular rates—not something to brag about. The problem? We've adopted the world's conditional love instead of God's sacrificial love.

🔹 World's Love vs. God's Love
The world loves people because they're attractive, successful, or have great personalities. God loves because it's His nature—and because we need to be loved, not because we deserve it.

🔹 God Made Provision: Romans 5:5
"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." God didn't leave sacrificial love up to you—He already put His love in your heart. You just have to choose to activate it.

🔹 God Personally Teaches You to Love
First Thessalonians 4:9 says God Himself teaches us to love one another—not preachers, not parents, not feelings. This is divine instruction.

🔹 Love Is a Choice, Not a Feeling
Sacrificial love must be a matter of choice (James 2, 1 John 3:16). When feelings fade, the choice to love remains because God's love doesn't depend on worthiness.

• Ephesians 5:25-33 — Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church; intimate, sacrificial love
• Romans 5:5 — The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
• 1 Thessalonians 4:9 — You are taught of God to love one another
• James 2 — The royal law: love your neighbor as yourself
• 1 John 3:7, 16-18, 23 — Hereby perceive we the love of God; lay down our lives for the brethren

00:00 Introduction and Gratitude00:34 Song Reflection: Sweet Will of God01:17 God's Order in the Home03:06 Husbands, Love Your Wives05:25 The Nature of God's Love08:19 Commanded Love and Final Thoughts

"No sinful human being has the capacity to love with divine fullness and perfection which Christ loves the church. However, God has made provision for the husband to love his wife with the measure of Christ's love."

"The world's love is always object-oriented. God's love is different—He loves because it is His nature to love, and because the object of His love needs to be loved."

"God took care of it Himself. God taught us how to love one another. This commanding love must be a matter of choice."

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Words From The Word is a daily Bible devotion podcast hosted by Pastor Roderick Webster of Good News Baptist Church. Teaching you can trust. Truth you can live.

🎙️ Produced by Good News Baptist Church | All Scripture references KJV