1 Timothy 4:4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
4 ὅτι πᾶν κτίσμα θεοῦ καλὸν καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπόβλητον μετὰ εὐχαριστίας λαμβανόμενον· 5 ἁγιάζεται γὰρ διὰ λόγου θεοῦ καὶ ἐντεύξεως.
It's hard to pick single passages to blog about because this book is so full of wisdom. Here Paul is instructing Timothy about food and marriage. Even though we have the record of Peter's vision before he took the gospel to Cornelius, apparently there was still need for instruction on this matter. It would be unthinkable for a Jew to eat pork, but Paul is again opening up the door for it.
Paul is also commenting upon marriage. Apparently there was a Gnostic influence at the time as there is today. Folks thought that it was more sanctified not to be married. I'm here to tell you that they were wrong and Paul was right. Marriage is just better. The marriage bed is meant to be enjoyed and not just for procreation. This is not something that everyone can easily accept, but it is biblical.
God created things for our enjoyment. The problem is that we pervert good things and turn them into gods. Our culture has made a god out of sex. We also have made a god out of food and rather than dealing with it we just try to manage it with various diets. Here Paul tells us to enjoy what god made. Enjoy His good creation. That means things like appreciating the beauty of a sunset, an ocean view, or the wildflowers on the side of the highway. It means enjoying good food and drink in moderation. It means enjoying the gift of sex in the context of the marriage bed (which biblically is one man and one woman). God gave us our senses to enjoy His creation.
Of course, let's be sure to remember the source of all this enjoyment. Everything is for His glory. That includes our senses. πᾶν κτίσμα θεοῦ καλὸν. Let's enjoy that!
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Loving My Wife
Ephesians 5:25-33
(25) Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
(26) that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
(27) so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
(28) In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
(29) For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
(30) because we are members of his body.
(31) "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
(32) This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
(33) However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
I have often said that this passage and James 4:17 are what govern my marriage. For the most part, I do a pretty good job. However, I also realize that I could do much better. The problem is that I do the things that I think are important to Amanda. I'm great about running errands and getting the kids out of her hair. She appreciates that, but what she wants more than anything is tenderness and affection.
I'm not a real affectionate guy. In fact, I'm pretty dispassionate about a lot of things. Sadly, that often includes my wife. I'm all for sexual intimacy, but I'm not so much for giving her non-sexual affection. This is something that I've been praying about lately.
I have rationalized this in the past by recognizing that Amanda is often pretty crabby in the evenings. This is by her own admission. Noah is wearing her out and if Lily pulls any of her antics it makes things very difficult for her. How do I show affection to someone that is hard to be affectionate toward at the time?
The answer hit me when I was running yesterday. I am to love her as Christ loves the church. Is the church always easy to love? Is it always easy to show grace toward the church? I don't think so. Christ loves us no matter how much we try to push Him away. That needs to be my example to follow. It's not just about service, but it's also about genuine kindness and affection no matter what.
Men, how are you doing with this? I sure hope you're better at it than I am!
(25) Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
(26) that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
(27) so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
(28) In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
(29) For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
(30) because we are members of his body.
(31) "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
(32) This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
(33) However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
I have often said that this passage and James 4:17 are what govern my marriage. For the most part, I do a pretty good job. However, I also realize that I could do much better. The problem is that I do the things that I think are important to Amanda. I'm great about running errands and getting the kids out of her hair. She appreciates that, but what she wants more than anything is tenderness and affection.
I'm not a real affectionate guy. In fact, I'm pretty dispassionate about a lot of things. Sadly, that often includes my wife. I'm all for sexual intimacy, but I'm not so much for giving her non-sexual affection. This is something that I've been praying about lately.
I have rationalized this in the past by recognizing that Amanda is often pretty crabby in the evenings. This is by her own admission. Noah is wearing her out and if Lily pulls any of her antics it makes things very difficult for her. How do I show affection to someone that is hard to be affectionate toward at the time?
The answer hit me when I was running yesterday. I am to love her as Christ loves the church. Is the church always easy to love? Is it always easy to show grace toward the church? I don't think so. Christ loves us no matter how much we try to push Him away. That needs to be my example to follow. It's not just about service, but it's also about genuine kindness and affection no matter what.
Men, how are you doing with this? I sure hope you're better at it than I am!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Refuge
Psalms 59:16-17
(16) But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.
(17) O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
It's incredible to read this the same day that Romans 8 comes up. Amanda and I watched Fireproof last night and it forced me to think about my past life in porn. While I was never as violent as Caleb in the movie, I was living for myself and was immersed in me. I had the conflict of trying to do the right things as a husband, which is a little different from him, but I was still so immersed in me that I was blind to how much I was hurting Amanda. I have to admit to getting pretty teary at the end.
This is good for me though. I need to be reminded of what happened at the cross for me. I need to remember how anything good in my life is a work of grace, whether it is God's general grace or the particular grace He has shown me. I have so much to thank Him for in this world. I can't imagine the joy when I meet Him in the next.
(16) But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.
(17) O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
It's incredible to read this the same day that Romans 8 comes up. Amanda and I watched Fireproof last night and it forced me to think about my past life in porn. While I was never as violent as Caleb in the movie, I was living for myself and was immersed in me. I had the conflict of trying to do the right things as a husband, which is a little different from him, but I was still so immersed in me that I was blind to how much I was hurting Amanda. I have to admit to getting pretty teary at the end.
This is good for me though. I need to be reminded of what happened at the cross for me. I need to remember how anything good in my life is a work of grace, whether it is God's general grace or the particular grace He has shown me. I have so much to thank Him for in this world. I can't imagine the joy when I meet Him in the next.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sins of Omission
James 4:17
(17) So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Husbands, this is one of my life verses for marriage. Yes, Ephesians 5:25-33 is also vital. However, I feel like this verse from James speaks more directly to my laziness. For example, if I see the toys all over the floor it is this verse that leads me to pick them up. If I notice that the dishwasher needs to be emptied this verse compels me to do it.
I think the church as a whole has the sins of commission down pretty well. We're quick to jump on things like drunkenness and overt adultery (though we still have a lot of work to do on porn). Yet we tend to forget to tie the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount to James 4:17. In general, we know the right thing to do in most situations. Let's be sure that we do it, amen?
(17) So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Husbands, this is one of my life verses for marriage. Yes, Ephesians 5:25-33 is also vital. However, I feel like this verse from James speaks more directly to my laziness. For example, if I see the toys all over the floor it is this verse that leads me to pick them up. If I notice that the dishwasher needs to be emptied this verse compels me to do it.
I think the church as a whole has the sins of commission down pretty well. We're quick to jump on things like drunkenness and overt adultery (though we still have a lot of work to do on porn). Yet we tend to forget to tie the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount to James 4:17. In general, we know the right thing to do in most situations. Let's be sure that we do it, amen?
Friday, August 24, 2007
9 years/5 years
We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. Actually, we merely observed it with cards. We'll celebrate it tomorrow night with a nice dinner. Either way, it's quite a milestone. I think back to how rough it was during those early years. We both had ideas of what marriage should be and it turns out that neither one of us was completely right.
I'm also around my 5th anniversary of finding freedom from habitual sexual sin. There are still times when I follow a link to a news article that I shouldn't or see things that I shouldn't. Sometimes I even seek stuff out that I shouldn't. But I do still feel free. I certainly don't go looking for what the world would call "porn" anymore, and that makes me glad. It's amazing to look back and see what a part of my life that was. A little part of me misses the excitement of looking for the perfect image, etc, but now I realize that I have so much more in Christ. Why would I ever go back to my old life?
I do know that the last 5 years have been much better than the first 4. It's nice that we've now had more time married with me in freedom than in bondage. I know that I still have much growth to do as a husband, father, and as a Christian, but at least I feel like I'm on the right path.
Grace truly is amazing!
I'm also around my 5th anniversary of finding freedom from habitual sexual sin. There are still times when I follow a link to a news article that I shouldn't or see things that I shouldn't. Sometimes I even seek stuff out that I shouldn't. But I do still feel free. I certainly don't go looking for what the world would call "porn" anymore, and that makes me glad. It's amazing to look back and see what a part of my life that was. A little part of me misses the excitement of looking for the perfect image, etc, but now I realize that I have so much more in Christ. Why would I ever go back to my old life?
I do know that the last 5 years have been much better than the first 4. It's nice that we've now had more time married with me in freedom than in bondage. I know that I still have much growth to do as a husband, father, and as a Christian, but at least I feel like I'm on the right path.
Grace truly is amazing!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Great Service
I spent my birthday yesterday running errands. One that I kind of dreaded was going to the post office for our annual shipment of gifts to various parts of the country. I've found that any trip to the post office in December is bound to take a long time. I went to the one that allows you to do self-service parcel shipment in the hopes that my boxes would fit in the slot (they did) and that I could get the holiday snowflake stamps in the vending machine (I could). Imagine my surprise when I found a woman in a cheery red holiday Post Office sweatshirt assisting postal patrons in their parcel posting. She helpfully marked out the barcodes on my recycled boxes and helped me place the postage stamp in the right place. I was just blown away by this. In fact, I need to send a nice note to our Postmaster about this because I was so happily surprised. It was also nice that they had a desk going in the lobby for some simple tasks like buying stamps. This helped with the line a little bit.
I also received outstanding service at my local ACE Hardware, but that's no surprise. Every time I go to ACE for something like a washer or a nut I wonder why I ever bother with Lowe's. Lowe's may only be 3 minutes from my house, but the service at ACE makes it worth driving 4 times farther.
Finally, I got some great service from the Firehouse Subs corporate offices. I'm a member of their ecrew and am supposed to receive a free sub every year for my birthday. In fact, I planned my meals around that free sub. I didn't get the email at first, so I called and inquired about it. They took care of me.
I can't help but wonder if there is some connection to the fact that I did go to the Post Office to start with. I did it sort of begrudgingly because I really wanted to sit in the basement and play a couple of games of NCAA Football '07 (I almost typed '97--that dates my video gaming days). Amanda was going to let me off the hook after I whined a little bit about it. But I just had to take pity on her because she feels so consistently wretched with this pregnancy.
I think this all goes to show that we need to listen to that "still small voice" that speaks to Christians. And I am again reminded of what I think may be my life verse for marriage in James 4:17 - So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
I also received outstanding service at my local ACE Hardware, but that's no surprise. Every time I go to ACE for something like a washer or a nut I wonder why I ever bother with Lowe's. Lowe's may only be 3 minutes from my house, but the service at ACE makes it worth driving 4 times farther.
Finally, I got some great service from the Firehouse Subs corporate offices. I'm a member of their ecrew and am supposed to receive a free sub every year for my birthday. In fact, I planned my meals around that free sub. I didn't get the email at first, so I called and inquired about it. They took care of me.
I can't help but wonder if there is some connection to the fact that I did go to the Post Office to start with. I did it sort of begrudgingly because I really wanted to sit in the basement and play a couple of games of NCAA Football '07 (I almost typed '97--that dates my video gaming days). Amanda was going to let me off the hook after I whined a little bit about it. But I just had to take pity on her because she feels so consistently wretched with this pregnancy.
I think this all goes to show that we need to listen to that "still small voice" that speaks to Christians. And I am again reminded of what I think may be my life verse for marriage in James 4:17 - So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
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