8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.14 Feb is around the corner but looking around today, are we having misconceptions about what love is? Similarly divorce rate is rising...what's happening?
Lets look to the Cross for an answer.
On Marriage
A sacred institution designed by God
Gen. 2:18, 21-24
1 Peter 3:1-5, 7
- In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands, even those who refuse to accept the Good News. Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words. They will be won over by watching your pure, godly behavior.
Don't be concerned about the outward beauty ... You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God ... In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard. (NLT)
What Does the Bible Say?
• Wives - demonstrate godly character and quiet inner beauty.
• Husbands - honor their wives and be kind and gentle.
• Husands and wives are equal partners.
1 Corinthians 7:1-2
- ... It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.(NIV)
This verse suggests that it is better not to marry. Those in difficult marriages would quickly agree! Throughout history it has been believed that a deeper commitment to spirituality can be achieved through a devoted life of celibacy.
Clearly this verse refers to immorality in sexual relations. In other words, it is better to marry than to be sexually immoral. But if we elaborate the meaning to incorporate all forms of immorality, we could easily include self-centeredness, greed, wanting to control, hatred, and all of the issues that surface when we enter into an intimate relationship.
Could one of the deeper purposes of marriage be to make us confront our own character flaws, the behaviors and attitudes we would never have seen nor faced otherwise? If we allow the challenges of marriage to force us to confront ourselves, we will be applying a spiritual discipline of tremendous value.
What Does the Bible Say?
• Strive to overcome immoral living.
I believe God designed marriage as an instrument to make us more like Christ. In his book, Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas asks this question, "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?" Is it possible that there is something much more profound in the heart of God than simply to make us happy?
Can we lay down our own ambitions to love and serve our spouse? Through marriage we can learn about unconditional love, respectful honor, how to forgive and be forgiven. We can see our shortcomings and grow from that insight. We can develop a servant's heart, and draw closer to God. As a result, true soul happiness can be discovered, and this, I believe is one of God's ultimate desires and purposes for designing the covenant of marriage.
Proverbs 15:17
A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.
Proverbs 17:9
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 30:18-19
There are three things that amaze me—
no, four things that I don’t understand:
how an eagle glides through the sky,
how a snake slithers on a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
how a man loves a woman.
Song of Solomon 8:7
Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
1 Corinthians 13:1-8a and 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Ephesians 5:25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Ephesians 5:33
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Colossians 3:14
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained."
C.S Lewis
No comments:
Post a Comment