Blog

Chapter 9: A Perfect Love
Blog Response by Melodie Fleming

On paper, my husband is everything a girl could want in a guy. Tall, handsome, tender, faithful, committed to Christ, does his own laundry, and likes to cook. What more could I ask for? Well, I’ve found it’s possible to ask and ask and ask!

Am I usually demanding? Perhaps, but I don’t think so. In fact, I’m probably relatively low maintenance.

So, what’s the problem? Simple. I’m a needy sinner who’s married to another needy sinner. I will always want more than he can give. He will always want to give less than he can. At our core, we are basically all about ourselves.

But even if Tom gave me everything I could possibly demand, it still wouldn’t be enough. Why? By virtue of his humanity, he isn’t capable of giving me the thing I most desire: Perfect Love.

In “His Perfect Love” (Chapter 9 of Do You Think I’m Beautiful), Angela Thomas describes the role fear can play in a woman’s life. “Fear plays with your head, rips out your heart, and empties the soul of strength and determination and will.” (p159)

The fearful woman, says Angela, becomes unstable, needy, self-absorbed, focused upon what others think, controlling, empty, and possibly even depressed. What is she afraid of? Change. Pain. Heartache. Loneliness. Failure. Disappointment. Rejection. To name a few.

Is there hope? Yes. She has a hero named Perfect Love. He drives away fear. His is the gentle, confident voice that invites her to dance. She won’t find complete satisfaction in her husband, her children, her job, or her accomplishments. But she will hope at the foot of a cross and in the arms of a constant spiritual embrace.

“To be free of the fear that grips our souls is to remain desperate for the intimacy of God.” (p168)

Desperation can be the bridge that takes us to place where joy is born.