God used Hosea and his marriage to reveal himself to us.

In the same way, God uses us and our marriage to reveal himself to others.

The way we act in our marriage almost always aligns with how we act in our relationship with God. It also shows what we think of God and the gospel.

If we always look out for ourselves first, serve our spouse only when we feel like it, and do things out of obligation rather than joy, we are saying that God is all about self. We are preaching a false gospel of self.

If we truly understand and apply God’s love, as Hosea demonstrated, we will love our spouse as God loves us. No matter how we feel or how they act, we will be devoted to serving them for their joy.

We are not God, so of course we will fail, and there are some limits on loving them despite any action they take, but by his power we can and will become more and more devoted to our spouse rather than ourselves every day.

When two people are devoted to each other like this, imagine the joy that they both would have! We can only give ourselves so much joy. And usually that joy is not real, and it is temporary. Joy that comes from another person loving us with God’s love not only gives us lasting joy, but connects us with God in a way that we can’t get on our own.

When we are devoted to God like this, imagine the joy we would have! We already know he is devoted to us more than any husband or wife could be on earth. If we grow in our devotion to him to reciprocate his love, not only will we be full of joy in God, but our marriage and our testimony will shine brightly to those around us. The greatest testimony we can have is how we love one another. Even the times alone with that person will not always stay secret. Our day to day relationship with our spouse and with God will influence everything in our lives. 

John 13:34-35 – "Jesus said, 'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.'"