Bible Thoughts

October 31, 2004

The message in the New Testament is very plain: love your mate! The primary reason that the majority of marriages of today will end in divorce is because of the lack of love. What you love, you treasure. What you love, you keep. What you love, you care about and want nothing unpleasant to happen to the object of your affection. My young friend, make sure that you love the one whom you intend to marry. According to the Lord's word, it is a lifetime relationship. The building of animosity between mates grows over months(and years), until there is a point that two people will no longer live together. To avoid such a condition, love your mate, care for their needs, encourage them in despair, and always treat them as you would be treated. It works--there are many Christians who can prove the truth of this statement.

When you love someone, you try to please them. When one loves Jesus Christ, he will do all within his/her power to follow the will of the Lord. In daily lives, in the home, at work, at play, at rest, or any other time, one who loves the Lord will observe his Word, following his will. It is not possible to love one whom we do not respect. When we show due reverence to the Lord, we will search out and obey his will. A child shows love by obeying parents. A citizen shows respect to the government by obedience. A mate demonstrates affection through the treatment of one's spouse. Even parents extend love to their children when they must be corrected and punished. Is it any less important for us to show our love to the God who made us by obeying what He revealed in the New Testament?

What a needed passage at present. The Lord designed the home and gave responsibilities to each member of the home. The Word of God states that wives are to be subject to husbands. Paul is not teaching that a husband is some sort of taskmaster, holding the mate under one's thumb. Rather, he is discussing the order in the home. Note that he went on to say that husbands are to love their wives and treat them accordingly. The Lord's plan is the best plan. It solves problems, enhances marriages, and draws husband and wife closer together. Whatever problems arise would be solved in the hearts of the mates, not in a divorce court. It is a tragedy in our time that broken homes exist in every community. How sad for the children who suffer because God's word is ignored.

The word provoke carries the idea of stirring up, to excite(in a wrong sense). It is right to stir up children to achieve in a right way; it is wrong to stir up a child by continually aggravating and harassing a child. It is right to excite children in order to help them accomplish tasks and ambitions; it is wrong to antagonize to the point they are so frustrated they cannot achieve their capabilities. Many a child has been discouraged because of the expectations of parents. When parents expect more of a child than the child can achieve, such is wrong. When parents try to make a child in their own image rather than understanding the capabilities of the child, such is wrong. Children have an right to be encouraged; they have a right to be guided; they have a right to be accepted. When children are properly treated and appreciated for their own abilities, they will be self-motivated.

How different is the teaching of the Lord when compared to the teaching of the philosophies and ideas of men. A follower of Christ is taught to have the proper attitude, even toward those who are enemies. The tendency of many of mankind is the opposite of what Jesus commanded of his disciples. Learning to love one's enemies is not easy when we find it difficult to love our neighbor. The proper attitude of the disciple of the Master is to recognize that all men are fallible creatures and need the help of others. Jesus died for his enemies as well as his friends. Let us not become so bitter toward others, no matter how they treat us, that we fail to walk in the way that Jesus Christ expects of all of those who follow him.

It is not easy to extend forgiveness to someone who has hurt you. Yet, the attitude that Jesus expects will lead all of those who desire to please him to extend forgiveness. Someone who says, "I will not forgive you in a million years," is acting contrary to the command of the Lord. How miserable one makes self when there is an unwillingness to forgive others. Building up bitterness in one's heart ultimately harms only the unforgiver. What if God took that attitude? His mercy was(and is) extended to every person, whatever the individual has done or not done. One has only to claim what the Lord offers through obedience to His Son. By rights, the Lord could have destroyed mankind when they first sinned. By rights, he could destroy each of us when we sin. Through his grace, he offers salvation to all who will accept and obey him.

The first gardener was Adam. It was his assigned task to work in Eden and see that God's earthly paradise was well kept. There are those who would seem to view work as a curse. Obviously, such is not true. It is honorable to work the soil that God made, it is honorable to groom and care for that which grows in the soil, and it is honorable to take the responsibility of following the instructions of Jehovah. Even Adam's children(Cain and Abel) were to work. Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd. Both occupations were honorable then and they are honorable at present. The soil and the animals supply our needed nourishments. An honorable occupation is part of the life of a Christian. Paul said it, "...let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good"(Ephesians 4:28).