SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/30/2019
8:42 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “Unbreakable Love”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
5:31
Message of the
verse: “"For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh’” (NKJV).
In our last SD I promised to give a
quotation from the early church Father John Chrysostom who wrote:
“Hast thou seen the measure of obedience? Here also is the measure of love. Wouldst thou that thy wife shouldst obey thee
as the church doth love Christ? Then
have care thyself for her as Christ does for the church, and if it be needful
that thou shouldst give thy life for her, or be cut to pieces a thousand times,
or endure anything whatsoever, refuse it not.
Christ brought His church to His feet by His great love, not by threats
or any such thing, and so do thou conduct thyself toward thy wife.”
There is the story of a man who said
that he loved his wife too much, and so someone asked him if he loved her as
much as Christ loved the church, to which he replied no. When the man answered no he was then told “Then
you must love her more.”
Let us look at what Peter admonished
in 1 Peter 3:7 “7 You husbands in the
same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone
weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace
of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.” John MacArthur writes “Here we see at least
three commands. First, a husband is to
be considerate to his wife. To treat
your wife in an understanding way is to treat her with sensitivity and
consideration. Over and over we hear
wives saying—usually with justification—that their husbands do not understand
them, are not sensitive to their feelings and their needs, and do not
communicate with them. The fact that a
husband may have many pressures and worries of his own is no excuse for his being
insensitive to his wife, whom God commands him to love and care for as Christ
loves and cares for the church.
“Second, Peter teaches that a
husband is to be chivalrous to his wife as ‘a weaker vessel.’ True chivalry is not simply a formality of
polite society; it reflects the attitude men should have toward all women, particularly
their own wives. A husband’s courtesy
toward his wife not only pleases her but also God.
“Third, Peter tells husbands to
honor their wives ‘as a fellow heir of the grace of life.’ Husbands and wives should be the best of
friends, not only in family matters and daily activities, but in spiritual
things as well. A husband who is not
considerate of his wife and who does not honor and respect her in defective in
his spiritual life, and his prayers will ‘be hindered.’
“The husband who give his wife
consideration courtesy, and honor contributes to the beauty and strength of his
marriage and give an invaluable example and legacy to his children.”
I must stress again that in order to
do these things that a man is commanded to do, that is love his wife as Christ
love His church, he must be filled with the Holy Spirit. When a person is drunk with wine that person
is under the control of the alcohol that is in the wine and so when a person in
filled with the Holy Spirit that person in under the control of the Spirit
doing things that the Spirit desires to be done through that person.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am to
make sure that there is no unconfessed sin in my life so that the Holy Spirit
can continually keep me filled so then I can love my wife as Christ loves His
church.
My Steps of Faith for Today: It takes
humility to love my wife as Christ loves the church and it takes being filled
with the Spirit to be humble.
Today’s
quotation from “Love in Action:”
“Encouragement is like a pebble thrown into water. While there is always an immediate impact,
the ripples continue indefinitely. You
never know what will happen with that kind word, that written note, that warm
touch you give to a grieving, hurting person.
You could start something that will never end.”
8/30/2019 9:09
AM
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