Mark 10:5-9
New International Version (NIV)
“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
The Old Testament is filled with great men and women of faith ...and their faith grew as they experienced and matured with their relationship with God. As babies, I hope that we can trust those needs to be taken care of. But, as we grow and become more aware ...we usually don't expect to eventually say, "Okay, as your child, I expect certain things that I feel I'm entitled to." And if you are wise enough to accept Jesus into your life, you can say you are 'saved' and have a more personal relationship with God ...but, it doesn't bring us back to the same immature entitlement speech.
And when we get married, we shouldn't begin to spell out nor define our very specific expectations for our marital roles. Along with the blessings, are also struggles ...intended to bring us from the milk to the meat of our diet. Many people can't stomach difficulties ...and find it hard to swallow these truths. These people often enter marriage with a rather spoiled character ...sounding much like the political jargon of recent years ---wanting our 'fair share', and 'occupy'ing whatever can be acquired through pressured expectations.
How is it that one day we stand at the altar professing love ...then it drastically changes? The answer is simply tragic, but it comes one step at a time ...and by definition is called 'sin'.
Sin is separation from God. And we generally witness sin as a progression ...which involves choices, and our desire for those choices to continue or to not be a part of our life.
If a person tries drugs, that person can consider it a mistake and choose to stop, or they can repeat the mistake. The choice of repeated mistakes may soon become an addiction ...where the choices are nearly being made for you.
Bitterness can perform like an addiction also. And it comes from a choice made to cease desiring to endure with love through perceived difficult times. We do not consider that through our own failing moments with our relationship with God, ...His love for us endures.
We all sin and come short of the glory of God ...and sin does not bring us closer to God, unless we confess and repent of it. So, every time we sin ...we are separating ourselves from God.
Now here is the part that is critical for us to look at. Since marriage brings us in union, not just with each other, but together with God ---that union cannot be conceived without being in agreement with God. And since God is involved in that union, each time we damage that relationship and 'separate' from the love we both professed ...it is sin.
None of us are perfect ...a true statement that is overused, and misused ---usually in the form of an excuse. So, we all sin against God, and against each other ...and temporarily separate and damage the relationship. We should seek healing, not allow ourselves to drift further apart. If we don't seek healing through often difficult measures, and attempt to reconcile, we eventually divorce ourselves from these very important truths.
And divorcing ourselves from truth, often has as much permanency as divorce itself.
I know that there are justifiable reasons for divorce ...but the majority of them fall under the category of "hardness of heart".
Solomon erected altars to the whims and desires of different wives ---to false gods.
What do we erect ...as our 'high places', placing higher than God? And what do we put above our love for our spouse?
Of course, we will not always remain as Romeo and Juliet ...thinking only of our romance for each other. There is a certain amount of maturity that bring us from the milk to the meat. A child is often a part of the sweet recipe of romance. The man has to realize he is no longer a child looking after his own needs and desires, and the woman has to be adult enough to take care of the needs and tasks of the child. That natural thing to happen is for the wife's passion for her husband to bring her to passionately care for the child. And the man will be served less, and learn to be more of a server.
This never works well if men and women have entered adulthood with never learning that life is not just about serving themselves.
1 Peter 2:2
King James Version (KJV)
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
The Old Testament is filled with great men and women of faith ...and their faith grew as they experienced and matured with their relationship with God. As babies, I hope that we can trust those needs to be taken care of. But, as we grow and become more aware ...we usually don't expect to eventually say, "Okay, as your child, I expect certain things that I feel I'm entitled to." And if you are wise enough to accept Jesus into your life, you can say you are 'saved' and have a more personal relationship with God ...but, it doesn't bring us back to the same immature entitlement speech.
And when we get married, we shouldn't begin to spell out nor define our very specific expectations for our marital roles. Along with the blessings, are also struggles ...intended to bring us from the milk to the meat of our diet. Many people can't stomach difficulties ...and find it hard to swallow these truths. These people often enter marriage with a rather spoiled character ...sounding much like the political jargon of recent years ---wanting our 'fair share', and 'occupy'ing whatever can be acquired through pressured expectations.
How is it that one day we stand at the altar professing love ...then it drastically changes? The answer is simply tragic, but it comes one step at a time ...and by definition is called 'sin'.
Sin is separation from God. And we generally witness sin as a progression ...which involves choices, and our desire for those choices to continue or to not be a part of our life.
If a person tries drugs, that person can consider it a mistake and choose to stop, or they can repeat the mistake. The choice of repeated mistakes may soon become an addiction ...where the choices are nearly being made for you.
Bitterness can perform like an addiction also. And it comes from a choice made to cease desiring to endure with love through perceived difficult times. We do not consider that through our own failing moments with our relationship with God, ...His love for us endures.
We all sin and come short of the glory of God ...and sin does not bring us closer to God, unless we confess and repent of it. So, every time we sin ...we are separating ourselves from God.
None of us are perfect ...a true statement that is overused, and misused ---usually in the form of an excuse. So, we all sin against God, and against each other ...and temporarily separate and damage the relationship. We should seek healing, not allow ourselves to drift further apart. If we don't seek healing through often difficult measures, and attempt to reconcile, we eventually divorce ourselves from these very important truths.
And divorcing ourselves from truth, often has as much permanency as divorce itself.
I know that there are justifiable reasons for divorce ...but the majority of them fall under the category of "hardness of heart".
Solomon erected altars to the whims and desires of different wives ---to false gods.
What do we erect ...as our 'high places', placing higher than God? And what do we put above our love for our spouse?
Of course, we will not always remain as Romeo and Juliet ...thinking only of our romance for each other. There is a certain amount of maturity that bring us from the milk to the meat. A child is often a part of the sweet recipe of romance. The man has to realize he is no longer a child looking after his own needs and desires, and the woman has to be adult enough to take care of the needs and tasks of the child. That natural thing to happen is for the wife's passion for her husband to bring her to passionately care for the child. And the man will be served less, and learn to be more of a server.
This never works well if men and women have entered adulthood with never learning that life is not just about serving themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment