![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/dejected.jpg\")
A forty-year-old man, suffering through the classic “mid-life crisis,” sat down to talk to a preacher about his problems. He explained how his marriage of 20 years was no longer satisfying or fulfilling. Finally, he reached the ‘bottom line.’ “I just don’t love her anymore”, he said. “What can I do?”<\/p>\n
After a brief moment of reflection, the preacher said decisively, “As I see it, you have only one option.” The man perked up with anticipation. Was the preacher going to suggest divorce? Would he be free to pursue the thrilling lifestyle of the younger generation that he had come to admire? Would this be his chance to regain his fleeting youth? What was the preacher’s advice? “Seems to me that the only thing left for you to do is repent <\/b>and start loving her again.”<\/p>\n
So often we hear of married couples who complain that they have “fallen out of love.” That’s sad – but it happens. The real issue is: What do you do when you realize that such a situation exists? The Bible still says the same thing that it has always said. Husbands are to “love your wives<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:25), and wives are to “love their husbands<\/em>” (Titus 2:4).<\/p>\n Please note that these are not just suggestions – they are commands. To fail to love your mate is to commit sin! And sin always requires repentance if there is to be forgiveness. Be careful. Do not confuse this commanded love with the gooey, silly infatuation of a teenager. It is far more than that. It is a sacrificial love that seeks the interest of the one loved more than himself. It is the kind of love that Jesus has shown to us (Ephesians 5:25).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Greg Gwin A forty-year-old man, suffering through the classic “mid-life crisis,” sat down to talk to a preacher about his problems. He explained how his marriage of 20 years was no longer satisfying or fulfilling. Finally, he reached the ‘bottom line.’ “I just don’t love her anymore”, he said. “What can I do?” After…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[65,64],"class_list":["post-57260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-love","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28227,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-have-to-divorce-my-husband-in-order-to-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":57260,"position":0},"title":"Do I have to divorce my husband in order to be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was married to a man who would not make love, have sex, or be intimate\u00a0with me. He said he preferred to masturbate and fantasize about my sister, neighbors, and the neighbor's mother. This greatly distressed me. He was also abusive, holding a gun up to my head threatening\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33116,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-divorced-my-husband-because-the-preacher-said-i-shouldnt-be-married-to-a-non-christian-what-should-i-do-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":57260,"position":1},"title":"I divorced my husband because the preacher said I shouldn’t be married to a non-Christian. What should I do now?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have read some of the things you have on here and I love the way you respond and answer people. I have been a member of the church of Christ since I was young -- or should I say I was baptized when I was young? I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22336,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-my-girlfriend-and-i-get-married-after-committing-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":57260,"position":2},"title":"Can my girlfriend and I get married after committing fornication?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have some issues I want to share with you so you can pray with me and give me some advice. I was searching the web for some answers on some Christian web sites when I came across your answer to a question that I had, and I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12283,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-couple-in-their-second-marriage-has-children-can-the-preacher-make-them-get-a-divorce\/","url_meta":{"origin":57260,"position":3},"title":"If a couple in their second marriage has children, can the preacher make them get a divorce?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a man has two children from a previous marriage and marries a woman who has children from a previous marriage and they have two children in their marriage and the man later becomes a member of the church and several months later his wife becomes a member, does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24720,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-think-a-preacher-caught-in-adultery-should-continue-without-some-disciplinary-action\/","url_meta":{"origin":57260,"position":4},"title":"I don’t think a preacher caught in adultery should continue without some disciplinary action","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been reading your many posts on marriage and relationships. I am somewhat confused in regards to your reply to\u00a0 \"If a minister has committed adultery, should he step down even though he has repented of his sin.\" It seems that you say that the preacher can continue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28058,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-marriage-in-decline\/","url_meta":{"origin":57260,"position":5},"title":"A Marriage in Decline","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steven Harper Throughout the Bible, God uses the analogy of marriage to describe\u00a0the relationship of God with His people. In the Old Testament, God spoke of how He was\u00a0\"married to\"\u00a0the ones of Judah (Jeremiah 3:14) and\u00a0\"was a husband to\"\u00a0the Israelites (Jeremiah 31:32), and even used the analogous picture of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/divorce2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}