2 Thessalonians 3:10 (Complete Jewish Bible)
For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: if someone won't work, he shouldn't eat!
My heart is heavy and saddened right now and going to share it. When I was on the road yesterday, (Feb. 6, 2013) I was texted by friends staying at my place saying they were headed south to look for work as two temp agencies closed here in Gainesville. They were here almost a week. Not once did they get a newspaper to see job listings. Not once did they go to the VA or Shands or North Florida Hospital to look for job listed. Nor did they contact other places. But they felt like they could only rely on the Temp jobs. They did not go online and put their resume online to different job sites. This is a man who claims to be a believer and I am not doubting his sincerity of believing he is a believer, but there are many qualities to the life of the believer. One of them is steping up to the plate and being the godly man that the Lord has called you to be. So much of it comes from Proverbs 31 for us to function. For a man God calls the man to be the Head of the Household, Protector, provider and guidance. That being said these things are what God directs us to do (men). We are to be lead by Him. Now if the husband hasn't had a Godly influence in his life then he needs one. All disciples of God are called to be held accountable, being disciples by others and have someone of spiritual maturity over them. My heart aches for the wife as she is a new believer and does not know her role as a godly wife or how to raise her son in the ways in which the Lord has taught in his word. My heart aches for the child as he is innocent in that he has no voice in the way he is being raised. The Lord did not call us to live the life of a vagabond or to be alone on this journey in life. He called us into relationship with not only him, but with his people. Fellowshippng with God's people is important for our growth, edification, exhortation, and many other things. What is it like for a child who never knows where he will lay his head at night? Where does he learn his socialization skills? Where are they to get the sense of security and warmth and that their needs are being met? I also had to think about where I fit into this whole picture. What were my boundries? Was I to allow people to keep coming into my life and let them take advantage of me? Don't get me wrong as I believe the Lord has called us to help others. But what if people don't want to help themselves? What if they did not even think they needed help? What if their attitude is that what they are doing is right and ok? How long to you allow yourself to let others to take from your kindness or the kindness of those around you? How is it ok to not work when you are able body to do so, and there are real jobs out there that you can get, but feel it is ok and even godly that you can live off your wife and child at the taxpayers expense while you travel from place to place? And I am not saying that there are times that a person does not need help in life. There was a time in my life where I did and I was thankful it was there. But there comes a time in life that you do whatever you have to do to be responsible, especially if you have taken a wife with a child. It is no longer just your life you are responsible for, but the life of your wife and child as the Lord has called you to be a man and to take care of your responsibilities. I pray that where ever you guys are, that you seek the fellowship of others and allow them to help you in the area of what it is like to be a godly man/husband/father as well as a godly wife. My prayers are with you all and I pray for the Lord to remove the blinders on your eyes as we will all be held accountable before him. And as believers we will stand before him and answer to him as to how we lead our wife and family.
Instead of Saying "I Love You", Show Love In Your Actions - By Angie Lewis
In what ways can a husband show his wife that he loves her? In what ways can a wife demonstrate her love for her husband? Loving someone means much more than words can say. Showing our love is much more sincere than telling our love. Anyone can say "I love you" but not anyone can "show love" because loving someone takes effort and sacrifice. This is why scripture says, "Love must be without dissimulation". If you are ever confused about what love is ask yourself, "Am I truly being loving by doing this, or is the person who is giving love to me showing sincerity?
When a husband shows his wife that he loves her it doesn't necessarily mean that what he is doing is something that he wants to do. What it means is he is sacrificing something of himself to show love to his wife. As an example, when a husband shows love he may give of his time with the children and allow his wife free time for doing something for herself. He doesn't have to do this, but he does it anyway out of love for his wife.
A husband can show his love for his wife in many ways. He may rub her feet while they watch television together. He may cook dinner for the family, or clean the house, or tune and oil her car for her to make sure it is safe for driving. He may take her out to dinner and to her favorite movie, even though the movie is not one he would have picked out to watch. He may bring her breakfast in bed on Sunday...
Some husbands show their love through protecting their wives. A husband may make sure his wife does not answer the door to strangers if she is home alone. Or perhaps he does not have her drive at night to go shopping by herself. Or perhaps he buys her a handgun and shows her how to shoot it for self-defense. When a husband asks his wife to not dress in skimpy or revealing clothing, he is protecting her from men thinking lustful thoughts about his wife! Whatever it is your husband does to show his love for you, this is love. Remember, circumstances are different in every home.
When a husband loves his wife in the ways of God he is accepting his headship position with the importance it deserves. Some husbands may not want their wives to work outside of the home, which is actually the ideal situation for peace and harmony for the whole family. When a husband takes his position seriously he will be a good guide and have family regulations in place of how the household is going to be managed and what is permissible and what is not for each member of the family, including his wife. If a husband does not love, care for and protect his wife properly then he is not really loving her in the ways of God.
When a wife shows her husband her love, she does it out of respect of his headship position.
Sure, a wife can rebel and not respect her husband as the man of the house, and many wives do just that, but this is not the way God designed wives to love their husbands. Some women balk at the idea of a man's protection for her. It's because they have been raised to believe that they don't need a man to protect them. They have the "I am woman, hear me roar" kind of an attitude.
Sadly 75 to 80 percent of women, even though they are married, are, or will be, victims of some kind of abuse, whether it is sexual harassment from work, or being raped, robbed, or murdered. And sometimes it is by people they are acquainted with from where they work. Some wives confuse a husband's protection as being controlling. If in the end what your husband is asking you to do is something good for you then how can that be controlling? Women and men have made a mockery out of how God shows a "husband to love his wife according to Godly principles"!
The bible tells us that a husband is to love his wife and the wife is to be respectful and submit to that love.
Understand that this is what love is! Love is not sex. Love is not that giddy feeling you had when you first met your husband or wife. Love is giving of yourself, even when you don't feel like it!
Do you think Christ felt like suffering and dying for the world sins? No, he asked God if there was any way to take the cup away from Him. "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Matthew 26:39) Jesus knew what he must do and what the Father's will was, but if it be possible, He asked.
Christ suffered terribly. Christ went through a brutal several hours before his death. That's love! So then how much more is it to show our love by doing nice things for the person we are married to? We're destroying God's marriage because of our selfishness. We can't suffer just a little bit, instead we divorce and don't even try restoring our marriage to God?
But look what Jesus has done for you! Couples, because they don't know what love is are destroying their marriage and making a mockery out of God's will for them in marriage.
The picture of love in marriage is sacrificial love from the husband and a wife who respects her husband's headship position through submission.
She is his helpmeet.
"Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." (*Ephesians 5:25) Wives, submit yourself unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (*Ephesians 5:22 and 24)
The bottom line is, it's nice to hear the words, "I love you" but it is much nicer to feel loved! When husbands and wives do not love one another according to God's design for them, they are not really loving one another.
Come visit the website and find great tips and ideas on how to show love every day in your marriage! Angie Lewis is the author of six self-help inspirational books offering valuable, proven marriage tips and advice. If your marriage and health are important to you, then you must check out Angie's books and websites! http://www.heavenministries.com/ Love, Intimacy and Communication in Marriage: http://youtu.be/6QFevQS-Hc4. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Angie_Lewis Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5593735
Find us on Facebook:
No comments:
Post a Comment