Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

-Ephesians 5:25

My daughter Kate said it. “Love is more than like.” That is a six year old explaining to a four year old the semantic difference between “love” and “like.” Simple. Effective. Brilliant.

15 years ago Lindsay and I were married. I liked Lindsay from the first days we spent time together in college (Hotchkiss lounge at TMC, thank you Andy and Beth Lichtenberger!). It didn’t take long before I knew that I loved her. 15 years and 4 kids later, I am still learning that love is more than like.

God calls me not merely to like Lindsay, but to love her as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Like doesn’t result in sacrifice. Like doesn’t put others first. Like doesn’t lead to confession and repentance. Like doesn’t mean unconditional commitment. Love does. Jesus loves us that way, and I am learning to love Lindsay that way. I have a long way to go.

Love has so much bound up in it: will, emotion, decision, sacrifice, choice, attraction, commitment. 15 years into this game, I’m more aware than ever that love > like.

Lindsay is a precious gift of God to me… a gift that I often take for granted. How awesome are her mom skills? How patient is she? How real is her faith? There’s so much to like about Lindsay: she’s a beautiful, intelligent, soft spoken, remarkably capable woman who walks by faith. But love is more than like. I love you, Lindsay!

(The photo above is one of my favorites of Lindsay in Jerusalem… she’s a rock star!)