I woke up and could hardly breathe. My eyes were wide open, yet it was pitch dark. The noise in my head was deafening. Hemmed in on all sides, my mind was searching, trying to remember … trying to understand where I was and what had happened. It was then I came to the conclusion, I'm dead. I'm in a casket and I'm on my way to hell. Terrified, I started screaming and thrashing around for all I was worth.

Turns out, of course, I wasn't dead. I'd come home drunk as Cooter Brown, and Linda saw fit to slap a metal trash can over my head. “I was afraid you were going to throw up all over the place,” was her explanation. 

What Love Is & What Love Ain't
by Pastor Joe Wingo

I tell you that story because I want you to know my wife put up with a lot of nonsense from me. Through it all, she loved me, prayed for me and stood on God's Word. And, I'm so grateful she did. If it hadn't been for her, I may never have been saved.

Now don't misunderstand me, I'd been in church all my life. My daddy was a preacher. And at one point, I had walked down the aisle while, “Just As I Am,” was being played on the piano. I signed a commitment card to be part of the church. People were asked to raise their hands if they were in favor of voting me “in,” and they did. But the truth was, I didn't know Jesus. I knew about Him. But, I'd never asked Him to be my Savior and Lord. I hadn't developed a personal relationship with Him.

Linda on the other hand was saved and had a close relationship with the Lord. She had experienced the love of God, and because of that she could release His love into my life. In other words, the love of God in Linda's life made all the difference in mine.

The Bible says “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We must first know God's love to give love. We can't give to others something we don't possess ourselves. That how Christianity works. But, I've known plenty of church folks who were strangers to the love of God.

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