In the country ballad That’s All That Matters, written by Hank Cochran, some rather “cool” concepts emerge.

 In fact, on the album liner for Ray Price’s “Burning Memories” album (circa 1965), we read:  “That’s All That Matters is a tender demonstration of understanding and forgiveness, perhaps love’s sternest tests.”

Let’s look at the words of the song:

I know I’m not your first love, but they’re just a past memory.

For I’m the one that’s got you now, and that’s all that matters to me.

I know other arms have held you, but I’m not jealous of these.

For mine are the arms that hold you now, and that’s all that matters to me.

I came alive when you came along--you brought life back to me.

And I don’t care what’s in your past; you’re as far, as far as I can see.

I know other lips have kissed you—I know you’ve been thrilled and pleased.

But mine are the lips that kiss you now--and that’s all that matters to me.

This is one beautiful song, and such a grateful attitude can go a long way in salvaging the relationship between a man and a woman.  The spiritual implications should be clear, too.

First love is often thought to be something a person will never forget—someone special, when love was young and new.  For the Christian who walks in “newness of life” (Romans 6:4), the message is clear in Revelation 2 (NKJV):

⁴“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

God was not our first love.  We were once in love with the world, with all its alluring “attractions.”  But God chose us so that we might, in essence, come out of the world (Rev. 18:1-5).  As we read in 1 John 2:

¹⁵Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

That “first love,” then—the world--should for us become “just a past memory.”  Our Lord is the One who has us now—if we are following Him (Luke 6:46, 1 Cor. 11:1, Gal. 6:2, etc.).  And our first love for the truth of salvation should not be allowed to wane or die.

In this case, though, ours is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14)—but there is such a thing as righteous or godly jealousy, and He wants us to now hold Him as our first love, as we find in 2 Corinthians 11:

²For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. ³But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

We were once held in the arms--and throes--of the world but are now under the everlasting arms of God--held in His arms (Deut. 33:27, Rom. 8:12-23, Jude 24-25).  And that’s all that should matter to us.

We came to life, real life, when He came along--He brought life back to us (John 10:10), and that’s what should really matter to us.  Notice Romans 6:

¹What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ²Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷For he who has died has been freed from sin

When this happens, our sins are forgotten (Isa. 43:25).  In the words of Psalm 103:

¹¹             For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

¹²             As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

¹³             As a father pities his children,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

¹⁴             For He knows our frame;

He remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵             As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

¹⁶             For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

And its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷             But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

On those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children’s children,

¹⁸             To such as keep His covenant,

And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

Then we are “as far as I can see,” as our Lord would say.  He no longer sees us as we were—no longer cares “what’s in our past” but has “made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).  See also Ephesians 1:3 and 1:20).  That’s what should matter to us.

God knows that we “have been thrilled and pleased” by the world in the past, but as we continue to walk in this newness of life, He is only thrilled and pleased by that (John 3:16).  As 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

This means, of course, that we continue to come before the Lord for strength whenever we are tempted, and He will then show us the way.  Look at 1 Corinthians 10 in this regard:

¹¹Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

We can also read Hebrews 4:

¹¹Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. ¹²For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ¹³And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

¹⁴Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Our Lord—and our Father—wants us to succeed, and we will do that if we follow the instruction found in 1 Peter 5:

⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. ⁸Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. ¹⁰But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

We are to consistently repent of our sins when we become aware of them, as we read in 1 John 1:

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Then we will follow the instruction in 2 Peter 1:

¹Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: ²Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

⁵But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. ¹⁰Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; ¹¹for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“Understanding and forgiveness, perhaps love’s sternest tests”—oh, but our Lord has these in His relationship with us 

As people heed these instructions found in God’s Word, essentially He says to them, “That’s all that matters to Me.”

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