A couple from church was distributing some Christian movies to those who wanted to watch it. One of it was the "Fireproof" movie directed and produced by Alex Kendrick.
The movie was about a couple, Catherine and Caleb, going through a rough time in their marriage. They were always fighting and seems like all the spark in their relationship is gone. They can't be together without fighting and blaming each other for each others inadequacies and faults. Until one day, all hell breaks lose. Catherine wants out, she wants a divorce.
This is where the Love Dare comes in. Caleb's father asked him if he still has a reason to save the marriage. And then he asked Caleb to do something in order to save it. It was the Love Dare. The Love Dare, is a 40-day challenge to help him improve his marriage with Catherine. In the first 20 days, he was not wholeheartedly doing it, he just did it for the sake of doing it. Until his Dad told him about Jesus and accepted Him, there was a big turn around in Caleb's life. I am not gonna tell the whole story just in case, you'll be interested to watch it.
What stood out for me in the movie was when Caleb was about to give up with the Love Dare half-way through it. He told his Dad (I am just paraphrasing what they talked about), why does he keep doing all these things for his wife when she doesn't even care, she doesn't even appreciate it. She turns down everything he does. And his wife told him that she doesn't love him. And then John, the Dad said, that is what we do with Jesus,too. He keeps loving us even when we turn him away. And He doesn't give up on us. So what I understand about this is that, if we really love a person and want their forgiveness, we don't expect anything in return. We do things for them because we want to do it wholeheartedly, not because we want something in return. For sure, all our efforts will be rewarded later on. In Caleb's case, even though his wife turn down all the things he was trying to do to change, later on his wife did see the result of his hard work. And he was forgiven.
Sometimes in life, we go through bumpy roads, may it be at work or in our relationships. But if we don't give up that easily and try to solve things and of course ask for God's help then problems will smooth out, the bumps will be straighten out. Especially in marriage, we promised and made a vow to be there for our spouses in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, until death do we part. If there is still a reason to hold on, then fight for it, don't give up.
