The bride of Christ is called to be pure and set apart from the world. A faithful bride only cares to be seen by her husband. Learn what it means to be the bride of Christ.
I struggled with insecurity and thought being married would cure it. Marriage only made it worse.
My husband struggled with lust and fell into pornography during our early years of marriage. I didn’t know how to love him back or myself. Now that I reflect on these years, I am not surprised that I was anxious and shaken.
When our source of love is in the hands of imperfect people (we are all imperfect), our identity will be shaken, and we will be prone to having an insecure heart.
If we want a perfect and whole heart, we need to be rooted in a love that is perfect. That perfect love can only come through Jesus.
God’s love alone is perfect and has the power to perfect us (1 John 2:5).
I had to learn and still am learning to be rooted in God’s love. The truth is, we can all have access to an intimate, deep love from our husband, Jesus, if we surrender our lives to Him and choose to seek Him.
We can extend unconditional love to others when we actively receive the unconditional love Jesus has given us. We can only be secure in who we are when we have the revelation of how much we are loved and seen by Jesus.
You are the Bride of Christ
Who is the bride of Christ? It is those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jesus desires that all of us be saved and become His bride (1 Timothy 2:3). Jesus came down from heaven and put on flesh so that you and I could be His.
Jesus did not die for some, but for all. But, we must accept Jesus as our Savior to be His. Saying yes to Jesus is like saying yes to a marriage. In order to be married to someone, we must first say yes, and agree to a covenant that includes being faithful and dying to ourselves to be one with our spouse.
The concept of marriage is the same as our relationship with Jesus. This is why throughout the Bible, we see the church described as the bride of Christ.
Revelation 19:7-9 says, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ”
Jesus is coming back for His bride, which is you and I. There is a beautiful wedding supper of the Lamb that is being prepared for us.
We are already married to Jesus when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and choose to abide in Him, but our final marriage union with Jesus will be sealed when He comes back for us.
In Jewish custom, a marriage was first sealed by betrothal, but the couple did not live together until a year later (once the groom had prepared a home for the bride).
We are now betrothed to Jesus, but He is coming back to officiate our union with Him. Jesus purchased you with His blood, and He is expecting a pure and faithful bride when He comes back.
You belong to Jesus. Just because you do not physically see Jesus does not mean you are not married to Him.
We must understand that we are the bride of Christ so that we continue to keep ourselves unspotted from this world (James 1:27). Jesus is coming back for a pure bride.
Will you say yes to Jesus?
Jesus Loves You
Don’t believe the lie that Jesus does not love you. Many people have a problem with God’s judgment, questioning God’s love if hell exists.
The truth is, we serve a righteous and holy God. God cannot fellowship with what is dark, because he is Light (John 1). But God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
God so loved the world, and He so loves you. This is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross, so that our sinful nature and sins could be washed away and we can be His bride. We don’t serve a dead Bridegroom, but a Bridegroom who is alive. Jesus rose on the 3rd day, and we are promised that the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the grave would raise us up too to have eternal life (Romans 8:11).
Jesus loves you so much. In John 3:36, Jesus says, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Jesus does not want any of us to experience God’s wrath. May we daily remember the deep love Jesus has for us, our call to be His bride, that we would not forsake Him. There is truly nothing in this world that can compare to Jesus.
Why do we care about capturing man’s heart when we’ve already captured the heart of Jesus?
Song of Songs 4:9 says, “You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace.”
Did you know that you have captured the heart of God? He sees you as His treasure.
A bride only cares to be seen by her husband. What would it look like to live every day only caring to please our Husband, Jesus? What would it look like to let His love be our source of love, security, and identity?
We are all craving for attention and love, but are we looking to the right person to receive what we actually need?
To the single person or married person who feels unseen and unloved, know that there is One who is madly in love with you. His name is Jesus. His love is like no other. He surpasses all lovers on this earth because He is God and His love is perfect and pure (1 John 4:18).
Jesus cares to search you and know you (Psalm 139:1). He even knows your thoughts before a word is spoken (Psalm 139:4).
God is seeking after your heart, but are you seeking after His?
Jesus willingly suffered and died on the cross to purchase you back to be His bride, if you would accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Stop seeking after the attention of lesser lovers. The lust of the world never satisfies but leaves us empty and bound by sin.
Seek after a love that fulfills you and frees you. Seek after Jesus.
Intimacy with Jesus
We all want to be intimately known, seen, and loved. So many times we look for “lesser lovers”, instead of our ultimate Lover who is Jesus. There is no one who can love you perfectly like Jesus.
You were made to be loved, treasured, and sought after by Jesus.
Sin separated us from God, but God sent Jesus, His only begotten son, to die for us that we could be made right with God if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
We were made to have an intimate relationship with Jesus. Will you take time to seek Jesus and spend time in the Bible? Invite the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus as your bridegroom as you open up the Bible. May our response be to set our hearts only to please Jesus.
No earthly relationship can be your Savior and fulfill you. Only Jesus is your Savior. May we not forget that we have a Lover and Husband, Jesus.
Isaiah 54:5 says, “For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”
If you are battling with insecurity, fear, or loneliness, turn to Jesus. You were made to have an intimate relationship with Jesus.
Apart from God, we will experience loneliness, insecurity, anxiety, and all other darknesses because only in Jesus can we be whole and complete. His love alone is what perfects us (1 John 4:18).
We can’t create a pure heart in our own strength. Only God can create in us a pure heart (Psalm 51:10). What is our part then to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with God? To actively live a surrendered life to Jesus. As the bride of Christ, we are called to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with God (2 Peter 3:14).
This looks like going to Jesus when you’re feeling hurt, angry, sad, anxious, envious, lustful, etc., and allowing His love and truth to wash over you. As we come to Jesus with an open heart to receive His love, His love purifies and perfects our broken hearts.
Are we living every day, preparing ourselves as the bride of Jesus? Are we setting our hearts apart to be holy and pure for when He comes back to completely take us as His bride? God wants you to live every day knowing that you are the bride of Christ. Satisfaction and fulfillment come from being rooted and established in God’s love.
So remember, you are the Bride of Christ.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for loving us with a perfect and faithful love. Forgive us for seeking fulfillment, validation, and security from lesser lovers instead of from You. Create in us a clean heart and help us to surrender every broken place to You. May we desire to please You above all else as we prepare for the day You return for us. Amen.
Listen to our Podcast “What it means to be the bride of Christ”
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