Gotta Stand Pt. 7

     “And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church…. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean…. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself….  So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord,  for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.  Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites. A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  “ Ephesians 5:21-6:10 NLT

     I suppose I hardly qualify as a relationship expert here. I’m divorced. I have one adopted son who doesn’t even speak to me. If you asked me where I went wrong I’m not even sure where I’d begin. My faults are many. That’s just being honest.

     What I do know, though, is that Christians are supposed to relate differently than non-Christians. Our motto in every relationship is supposed to be love and submission, grace and sacrifice. Those concepts aren’t just fluffy theology; They are hard-nosed, practical applications. A lot of everyday life is stuffed into the middle of Eph.5:21 and Ephesians 6:10: dishes, carpools, date nights and daily devotionals, dead-lines, chore charts, discipline and double shifts. In all these relationship driven items we are called to act out of love and submission, grace and sacrifice.

     If we are going to stand in the now we need to begin to live Christian in our relationships now. Our past can not be allowed to dictate how we relate in the present. Also, love and submission, grace and sacrifice have nothing to do with changing our relationships. Relating right is not about winning other people over; It’s about reverencing Christ. We don’t change our behavior to fix our lives. We change our behavior to please God. Then God fixes our lives to whatever degree He feels necessary.

We’ve gotta stand! What do you think is the greatest hindrance to Christian relationship?

You Choose the View Pt.5

“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. ” James 4:14 NLT

      At some point we all tumble to the truth that Keith Ward Wrote about in his famous hymn, “The Solid Rock”,

      “On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand.”

      Nothing in this life, except Jesus, is exempt from change…NOTHING and NO ONE!  I used to think differently. I used to believe that there were some things some relationships which would remain unchanged forever. I was wrong.

      I think change is most painful when it affects our intimacies. We were made for community and fellowship, but that created purpose is hard to achieve when all around us the people we know and love are going through life-change just like we are. Circumstance takes the ability to control our relationships out of our hands. The happenings of life take our connections and turn them into fluid things that run in and out of existence like rushing waterfalls: children grow up and move away, jobs change, friends get busy, people die, passions cool,divorce breaks up, babies are born, relationships blossom, new co-workers edge their way into our lives, people marry and the process starts all over!

      So what do we do? Give up on relationship? Hide in our closet for the rest of our mortal lives? Well that’s a choice…one I sometimes make; But it’s not the best choice; It’s not the God choice!

     The way to live successfully in a world where everything and everyone can change by tomorrow morning is not to hide; It is to find solid ground in a relationship with Jesus and address the rest of your changing relationships from that stand point. So many of us have pinned our hope, our joy and our faithfulness on a fallible person rather than on Jesus. Unfortunately, when that person falters in the process of their own changes we are blown to psychological bits. I can promise you no man woman or child will ever be able to meet all your personal needs. At some point people are going to come up short and turn into the “sinking sand” that Keith Ward talked about.

       This isn’t a blog about ending relationships; It’s a blog about keeping your relationships in proper perspective: Trust Jesus and love people! 

Maybe just maybe that is the point of some change you are going through right now. Maybe Jesus wants you to make Him the solid rock so that you can love someone else through their difficulty!

What do you think?