Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ functions in the book both as the central religious authority for love and as its concrete example. His teachings connect love to service, care for the vulnerable, and even love for those who act as enemies; the author uses these principles to frame practical guidance about marriage and family relationships.

Love as the Defining Principle

The book invokes Jesus Christ as the founder of the Christian faith and says that love was to distinguish his followers. This places love at the center of its account of human emotional need: love is not merely one feeling among many, but a force that gives meaning to human effort and relationships. The discussion also draws on Paul’s assertion that faith, hope, and love endure, with love the greatest of the three.

That appeal gives the book’s account of love both religious and interpersonal reach. The need to feel loved is described as a primary emotional need, and Jesus’ teaching supplies a moral frame for taking that need seriously in ordinary relationships.

Service as a Practice of Love

Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet is the book’s clearest example of love expressed through service. In the social setting described, guests arriving from dusty roads would customarily have their feet washed by a household servant. Jesus takes a basin and towel and performs the task himself, turning a familiar act of hospitality into an example for his disciples to follow.

The episode supports the book’s practical definition of acts of service: doing things one knows a spouse would like, with thought, time, effort, and a positive spirit. Jesus’ action also challenges the usual association of greatness with authority over others. The book presents his teaching that the great should serve, and Paul’s summary, “Serve one another in love,” as an extension of the same principle.

Care for Children

The book also presents Jesus’ response to children as evidence of the importance of physical touch and attentive care. In the account it cites, parents bring children to him to be touched, while his disciples rebuke them because they believe he is too busy. Jesus is indignant at their response, welcomes the children, takes them in his arms, places his hands on them, and blesses them.

The scene connects religious teaching to the book’s discussion of emotional development. Drawing on research about child development, the author argues that babies who are held, hugged, and kissed tend to develop healthier emotional lives than those left for long periods without physical contact. Jesus’ welcome of the children thus serves as an example of care made visible through touch, not simply an abstract affirmation of their value.

Love for Those Who Cause Harm

Jesus’ command to love enemies becomes a framework for the book’s discussion of a distressed marriage. The author considers whether a person can love a spouse who has become hostile, and cites Jesus’ instruction to do good to those who hate, bless those who curse, pray for those who mistreat, and treat others as one would wish to be treated. The accompanying promise, “Give, and it will be given to you,” prompts the author to consider whether this ethic could inform a marriage in which love has deteriorated.

The book turns that question into a proposed experiment for Ann, whose husband, Glenn, has refused counseling and other efforts to work on the marriage. The hypothesis is that if Ann consistently speaks Glenn’s primary love language for six months, his emotional need for love may begin to be met and he may reciprocate. Jesus’ teaching provides the experiment’s moral and spiritual impetus, but the author carefully distinguishes principle from guarantee: loving conduct may make a positive response more likely, yet Glenn remains free to reject it.

Faith and the Capacity to Love

The book ultimately treats Jesus Christ not only as a teacher but as the focus of the author’s own religious commitment. Recalling marital struggles, the author describes examining historical accounts of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection. He came to understand Christ’s death as an expression of love and the resurrection as evidence of power, then committed his life to Christ.

This personal account supports the book’s claim that loving an unloving spouse may require spiritual resources. The author says that faith has provided inner energy to love even when love is not returned, and points to Jesus’ prayer for those who killed him as the ultimate expression of that love. Across the book, Jesus’ service, welcome of children, teaching about enemies, and example of forgiveness make religious teaching a practical ethic for relationships, while the proposed marital experiment remains a possibility rather than a promised outcome.