I love Hallmark movies and at Christmas time they really
step up their game. Thankfully, I don’t have the Hallmark channel otherwise I’d
be worthless during this season. I was able to watch some movies while
house/pet sitting for some dear friends over Thanksgiving and I do have a few
on DVD. I’ll be at my parents’ next week and they have the Hallmark channel. I
plan to catch up on any missed movies at that time. Ha. I find myself getting
caught up in the silly storyline and sighing when it all works out in the end.
But I realized through talking with some friends that some people are holding
out for a Hallmark relationship and while these movies are fun to watch they
are SO unrealistic …
Here are my reasons why:
What I’ve learned
about “true” love from a Hallmark movie … First, the relationship will only work if we are both abnormally
gorgeous. Yay! That’s covered on my part … not. Ha. Second, all great relationships are built on a lie … whether you
are trying to make someone else jealous, trying to win a bet, told your family
and friends that you were dating/married to someone w/2.5 kids, having to hide
your identity because you are royalty, a movie star, your dad is Santa Claus or
you just broke up with your significant other 2 days ago that you’ve been
dating for 8 years and truly thought you were in love with. Then you just live with that little white lie and spin your web of deceit. Totally harmless. Third, every parent’s sole focus is to
see their unwed child married because that’s the only way to find happiness. And
if that means they have to introduce you to every ugly person in your city then
so be it. J Fourth, you can live platonically with
a member of the opposite sex that you are wildly attracted to and not once be
tempted to sin in spite of the mistletoe hung over every door frame and
accidentally seeing each other in a towel. Fifth,
the 3 weeks to a month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is plenty of time to
realize that you are madly in love with this new person, can build a life
together and get married by Christmas or New Year’s Eve … oh and that person
you were with for 8 years? You didn't really
love them. Sixth, if you or your new
significant other have children then they are either smarter than you and realize
that you two are perfect for each other before you do or will realize that they are being
selfish for feeling any hurt over a new person coming into their parent’s life
and will make sure you two live happily ever after. And they are 5 years old. Hello, genius!
What I’ve learned
about “true” love from the Word of God … “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or
rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no
record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but
rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never
loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1
Corinthians 13:4-7 Hmmm ... that doesn't quite fit the story lines of most romance movies ... except the Love Comes Softly Series!
“And
further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means
submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For
a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is
the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to
Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For
husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave
up his life for her to
make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her
to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish.
Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands
ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves
his wife actually shows love for himself. No
one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the
church. And we are members of his
body. As the Scriptures say, “A
man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are
united into one.” This is a great mystery,
but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So
again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must
respect her husband.”
Ephesians 5:21-33 I don't think this will be featured in a prime time movie anytime soon.
So
where does that leave me? …
Well, I’m going to keep watching Hallmark movies because they are good but I am
going to view them through the lens of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and Ephesians
5:21-33 and not settle for anything less in my own life. I don’t want a
Hallmark relationship. I want a Jesus Christ ordained and approved relationship because
anything else would seem too much like a Lifetime movie … starting in disaster
and someone ending up in jail or the morgue. J Ain’t nobody got time for that!
I love you all!!
Blessings …
- Melody
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