We Are The Bride
Yes, We Are the Bride...
The Church is more than an institution…
She is more than a gathering place, a denomination, or a building on the corner of Main Street. She is the Bride of Christ—chosen, cherished, and called to live in covenant love with her Bridegroom.
When we speak of the Church in this way, we are not speaking in abstract terms. We are speaking of ourselves—of every believer who has been filled with the Holy Ghost, baptized in Jesus name, redeemed by grace and brought into union with Christ. It is both an honor and a holy calling.
At her best, the Bride is radiant…
She is statuesque and striking, regal and majestic in her beauty and in her holiness. She walks in grace, adorned in righteousness, and her very presence bears the image of her Beloved. The Brides Holiness is not a painful cloak of servitude, it is a glorious mantle of distinction before the groom.
“Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.”—Song of Solomon 4:7
But even the most beautiful bride can become weary…
Beneath her radiance, the Church often passes through seasons of unrest, contradiction, and forgetfulness. We—her members—can fall short of the love we are called to embody. We become unforgiving, unconcerned, and self-centered. We allow our passion to fade and our devotion to grow cold.
We seem at times too much the desultory outsider, casually accepting in our indulgence and we sometimes become ambivalent to the desire of our consort, The Lord.
“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”—Revelation 2:4
In those moments, we can look more like strangers to the covenant than heirs of the kingdom. We become distracted by the world, indulging its comforts while neglecting the intimacy of our relationship with Christ. Worst of all, we grow indifferent—not hostile, just unmoved. And indifference is the quiet enemy of love.
Yet even then—God loves us…
He loves us not only for what we are now, but for what He saw in us from the beginning. He remembers what first drew His gaze. He sees beyond our current state and looks at us through the eyes of His covenant. His love is not blind, but eternal. He sees the full picture—what we were, what we are, and what we can become.
“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”—Jeremiah 31:3
But love, even divine love, invites a response…
For though God’s love is faithful, it is not passive. The Bridegroom desires readiness. He seeks a Church adorned, not only in Holiness, but in devotion and love; and for a Church awake, alive, and longing for His return—He is not just watching for Holiness, He is also watching for love, for readiness, and for longing…an equal part of Holiness.
“They that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.”—Matthew 25:10
The time is now to awaken...
To return to our first love with sincerity and reverence. We are His bride—chosen, set apart, and deeply treasured. Let us reflect His love in how we live. Let us reject complacency and rekindle the flame of devotion.
Let us be faithful to the Bridegroom—and ever grateful for His love.
Lord Jesus, rekindle in us the passion of our first love. As Your Bride, let us be found statuesque and stunning, wrapped in Holiness…always watching, always waiting, and always ready.
~ Brother John Tarter