2019-10-18
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Some of the most beautiful words about love I read and believe are found in 1 COR 13: 4-8a. “Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up, and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal.” I read those words to my son just before he got married, and I pray he has not forgotten them. They have been in my active consciousness since I first read them all those years ago, when I married my husband of almost 43 years and counting. In my effort to provide supporting Scriptures to the book of Colossians and to recognize the full impact of this little four-chapter book on our lives, I cite here COL 3: 18-19. “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands, for that is what you should do as Christians. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.” While I’m at it, here are more citations that all hover around the subject of marital bliss or lack of it: PS 34: 12-16; EPH 5: 21-25 and JAS 3: 10-12. (Please read these, if you are not already familiar with them). Once this is done, one can only come to the conclusion that God wants us to eschew lying, and to be good and kind to each other, even if it means swallowing our pride and taking the time to figure out ahead of speaking what the impact of our words and mood will be on those within earshot. Nowhere is God’s message to mean nagging or abusing one’s partner is ever acceptable. Be committed to keeping peace in our homes and remaining truthful.
Since Christian husbands are the heads of their households, they must understand that they are to “love their wives just as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it.” Wives are to “submit themselves to their husbands, as to the Lord” [EPH 5: 22 and 25]. This puts the breaks on cruel leadership by men and efforts on the part of women to disrespect their husbands. Truthfully, only once did I make an important decision and act on it unilaterally in our almost 43 years of marriage. Any other major decisions have been made as a collaboration of both of us, with my husband having the last word. I’m grateful that God has taught us what love is and sent His Son to model it for us. That one time I made a unilateral decision, it was about something that mostly impacted me. His feelings mattered to me very much in that circumstance, and I was careful to take them into consideration.
The statement, in EPH 5: 28 catches my attention. “Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who love his wife loves himself.” Unless we need the help of a caretaker, both sexes should love their own bodies and feed and care for them. People who don’t are in deep mental, emotional, or physical trouble. The love of one’s body should not keep a person from being a good and loving spouse. In other words, we need to live healthy, balanced emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual lives. Despite the fact that our Lord Jesus had to endure terrible trials during His earthly life, He never took it out on anyone else. As we get older, Arthritis and other illnesses cause pain and enough and their own aggravation. It is clear that the Lord never means for us to take it out on our spouse or anyone else. This requires self-control, and that is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We are given that ability and must be determined in applying it.
No one has promised us that it will be easy to do, but we do have the ability to think before speaking and acting. There are people in our lives that find pleasure in pushing our buttons. They have a problem, but this problem gets compounded when we respond without self-discipline. We must be careful with these people not to say things that will act as emotional fire-starters. The apostle James, in JAS 3: 5b-6, says, “Just think how large a forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame! And the tongue is like a fire. It is a world of wrong, occupying its place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. It sets on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes from hell itself…No one has ever been entirely able to tame the tongue on his own. It is evil and full of deadly poison” [JAS 3, 6b, 8, 10]. However, since we are created in God’s own image, He has given us the ability to draw on His wisdom in speaking. James reminds us in this chapter that “words of thanksgiving and curses to other people shouldn’t come from the same tongue.” God must have felt this subject was very important, because He had more to say, through Peter in 1 PET 3: 1-12 and in other places for us to examine next week.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne with our many imperfections to thank You for the wisdom You share with us. We feel joy and peace in our hearts, knowing that there is nothing that goes on here on earth that is hidden from You. Your wise advice is meant for us to apply to our everyday lives. You command that we treat our spouses with love and kindness. And, when a husband or wife is abusive and refuses to conform with Your will over time, we are given permission to end the marriage, because that person chooses not to obey You. It saddens You when a marriage must end this way, which suggests that such a union as marriage should only be taken after one gets to know a prospective spouse first. Marriage should not be a rite carried out by a people who refuse to commit to it, a person who hasn’t been honest, or a person is too young emotionally to recognize an unsuitable person makes a terrible spouse. Fornication and adultery are evil, and they can only lead to painful break-ups later. We ask You to give us the strength and ability to obey Your commands and live by the wisdom You share. We ask for Your help in giving us self-control. Without You, we are nothing and can do nothing to help ourselves in times of temptation. We offer You our love, devotion, and faithfulness. Thank You for all You are and all You do; in Christ’s holy/mighty name we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Our Lord Jesus gave His life on the cross, so that we might “die to sin and live for righteousness” [1 PET 2: 24]. I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to write about several citations in 1 PET 2 and 3 next week. They deal with more aspects of the marital relationship and friendship. In this way, even more support for what we’ve been studying in the book of Colossians is presented. There is much in the Scriptures for us to learn and apply to our lives. We can have a better understanding of what is going on around us and impacting our lives this way. So, our time is not wasted in listening to what our Lord is telling us and making it a part of our lives. Repeatedly, my mind keeps going back to Christ’s words in JN 15: 5, “I am the Vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in Me and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without Me.” In so many ways, this statement demands our submission and gives sound reasons for it. We really do need Him in our lives. His Atonement has given those who believe in Him eternal forgiveness for sins, a way to gain eternal life, and much-needed justification. But there’s more! We have an open, two-way communication with Him any time of day or day of the year through prayer. His intervention in our lives is always for our best eternal interests. Through His example and words, we can tap the amazing knowledge that God has for us. His wisdom is unparalleled! What a gracious gift that is! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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