How do you look at your wife?

“Look at how he looks at her,” I leaned over and whispered to my wife in the middle of the sermon.

Over the last few weeks the pastor at Manna Church in Fayetteville has been giving a sermon series with his wife. Last week I noticed a look in his eye and for a few minutes as he was transfixed on her, I stopped listening to the message altogether.

I started to think about the times that I have seen men look at their wives this way. Nearly every man at his wedding has the look, but to still see it after years is much rarer of an event. I remember my neighbor Chris Duvall and how he looks at his wife Debbie, my old pastor Marty Schmidt and how he looks at Jenny, or how my Grandfather looks at my Grandmother, and now how Michael Fletcher looks at his wife Laura.

These men are smitten with their women.

What they have learned is that there are varying degrees of love, and what they feel is beyond the flesh. We are all going to get old, and physical beauty is going to fade, and if that’s what you have anchored your relationship on, well, my heart goes out to your family and I will pray for you.

Look, I know some of you don’t believe in God, and maybe there are relationships out there that can achieve this level without Him, but i’ve never seen it. I know that doesn’t mean it can’t happen, but if you want to make it work, if you want to stack the odds in your favor, then you should look to God.

I pray that one day, many years from now, I still look at my wife like these great men do!