She Loves Me Like Jesus Does

You often hear that the first year of marriage is so hard. People told my wife and me to remember to "hang in there" when it gets tough, and if we make it through the first year we'll be okay. I always hated this advice. My wife and I will celebrate one year next month. We ignored this idea that the first year is so dreadfully hard. We knew that it would be what we made it, and the past year has been wonderful.

Yes, we've had hard times. We've had struggles, we've had disagreements, we've had plenty of times to say, "I'm sorry," and we've had to make adjustments. This is all normal. We've even had my addiction to deal with. Not everyone faces such a trial, but it's probably more common than you might think. Even so, all these things have actually brought us closer and strengthened us. Most importantly, I think, our experiences have helped us develop a more Christlike love for each other, and have brought us closer to God.

There's a country song by Eric Church called She Loves Me Like Jesus Does.

I'm so grateful for my wife, because she loves me like Jesus does.
She believes in me. She carries me when my sins make me heavy. She loves me despite my crazy dreams and my broken wings. I thought at one point that she'd give up on me, especially after what I put her through. But I thank God each day that she loves me like Jesus does. And it's true - the devil, man, he don't stand a chance.

We have gone through a tough experience, the weight of any addiction is heavy. I made the decision before we got married to stop trying to overcome it on my own, and let God help me. I made the decision to turn to Him and let the Atonement of Jesus Christ help me and heal me. My wife made the decision, bless her heart, to stand by me every step of the way, and to love me like Jesus does. She too is being helped and healed by the Atonement. I am forever grateful for both my wife and the Lord.

We have learned together that we need His strength, and that we can't get through this on our own. We've learned that the power of the Atonement is very real and very available to those who seek it. It's power is infinite. We've had many hard times the past year (and before that while we were dating), but my love for my wife as grown so much as we've gone through every trial with each other and with God. She is amazing, and is a light in my life. I'm grateful that for all we've learned, and that we are still learning all the time. We are by no means perfect, but we're trying.

What greater thing is there than the love of Jesus? My wife and I learning to love each other like Jesus does, and to love Him as He does us. We trust in God, and believe in good things to come.