have you ever really loved a woman?

Last night I did something fun. I had my good friend over to the house and we watched concert DVDs. My friend and I played in a band together in the old days of a youth movement that we were both a part of. He played drums and I sang and played guitar. Well, last night we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves watching two great Canadian artists in concert. The first is the legendary Bryan Adams, live in Lisbon, filmed in 2005.

Wow! He’s getting a little older but he still has so much energy in his live show. He truly is staying 18 til he dies. Bryan Adams is a great song writer, especially when it comes to love songs. “Heaven” is a favorite of mine. There is such intimacy and passion in some of his lyrics. Another song that I really appreciate is “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?”

Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?

To really love a woman
To understand her – you gotta know her deep inside
Hear every thought – see every dream
N’ give her wings when she wants to fly
Then when you find yourself lyin’ helpless in her arms
Ya know ya really love a woman

When you love a woman you tell her that she’s really wanted
When you love a woman you tell her that she’s the one
Cuz she needs somebody to tell her that it’s gonna last forever
So tell me have you ever really – really really ever loved a woman?

To really love a woman
Let her hold you – til ya know how she needs to be touched
You’ve gotta breathe her – really taste her
Til you can feel her in your blood
N’ when you can see your unborn children in her eyes
Ya know ya really love a woman

Chorus

You got to give her some faith – hold her tight
A little tenderness – gotta treat her right
She will be there for you, takin’ good care of you
Ya really gotta love your woman…

“when you can see your unborn children in her eyes..Ya know ya really love a woman.” There once was a time in my life when I couldn’t understand how a man could talk this way about a woman. In my religious mindset, I honestly believed that these men were worshipping their woman in place of God. I was always taught that God should be #1 and I would fight to keep myself from giving that much devotion to a woman, for fear that she would become more important than God. However, I’ve changed. Now I see that any religious idea that denies the enjoyment of the good things that God has given us is not healthy. It is not freedom. Actually, now I believe it totally glorifies God when a man completely gives his heart over to a woman. A husband must adore his wife. He must be willing to hold nothing back and do anything it takes to show her how precious she is. I believe that a marriage relationship is a reflection of God Himself, and how a man loves a woman reflects God’s deep love and commitment to us. I believe God loves the human race like this, and was willing to go to the extreme to show her the extent of His love.

So men, love your woman. Don’t hold back. Give her everything. Don’t be afraid of worshipping the ground she walks on. In a small way, you are reflecting a divine reality. I can see God in these issues of life. I can see God in self abandoned adoration of a woman. We can love this deeply because it is His very nature in us.

Women, you can love too. This brings me to the other Canadian artist that my friend and I watched – Sarah McLachlan.

I’ll leave you with these beautiful words that she wrote to her husband.

“Push”

Every time I look at you the world just melts away
All my troubles all my fears dissolve in your affections
You’ve seen me at my weakest but you take me as I am
And when I fall you offer me a softer place to land

[CHORUS:]
You stay the course you hold the line you keep it all together
You’re the one true thing I know I can believe in
You’re all the things that I desire, you save me, you complete me
You’re the one true thing I know I can believe

I get mad so easy but you give me room to breathe
No matter what I say or do ’cause you’re to good to fight about it
Even when I have to push just to see how far you’ll go
You wont stoop down to battle but you never turn to go

Your love is just the antidote when nothing else will cure me
There are times I cant decide when I cant tell up from down
You make me feel less crazy when otherwise I’d drown
But you pick me up and brush me off and tell me I’m OK
Sometimes thats just what we need to get us through the day