SPIRITUALITY AND FAITH
circumstance, creating a blessing! Further…
Love is Satisfied in God, so Immerse Yourself in that Love and Communicate It! Everyday you place expectations on your spouse or parents. They can’t satisfy all the demands you ask of them—partly because some of your demands are unreasonable, and because they are human! But God is able to do it all and that’s why you need to immerse yourself in God’s love! Psa. 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart!” Seek God first, love Him first, make your relationship with Him top priority! With God’s example of faithfulness, you can give the love your spouse or parents need, even if they don’t always deserve it. Remember: great homes and marriages are not created by people who never hurt each other, but by people who choose to keep “no record of wrong” and instead communicate this LOVE that I Cor. 13 talks about!
II. HOW LOVE IS TO BE DEMONSTRATED
Make honoring God your highest aim in your relationships and be Sensitive to their Needs! The Bible in II Cor. 6:14 tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers! In Gen. 24:3, Abraham commanded his servant NOT to seek a wife for Isaac among the Canaanites but to follow God’s leading to a believer among his people! We must honor God’s choice for us, if we want a Godly home and marriage! We must also discover their love language and be sensitive to their needs to have a great relationship. We all have a
primary love language in connecting with others: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time or Physical Touch. God knew this and says in I Cor. 13:5 “love does not act unbecomingly; does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take in account a wrong suffered”.
III. HOW LOVE CAN BE RENEWED
Love Can be Renewed as we take Responsibility to Express it and Protect it! Your home and marriage has enemies conspiring to destroy your relationships and lure you away in fantasies, but you can choose to stop this craziness, consumed in God’s love! Men –You’re the one responsible before God to guard against all that would threaten your wife or marriage. As Caleb in the Movie “Fireproof” was instructed by his dad “Watch out for parasites”. A parasite is anything that latches onto you or your partner and sucks the life out of your marriage. They’re usually in the form of addictions, like gambling, drugs, pornography or an affair. They promise pleasure but grow like a disease and consume more and more of your thoughts, time, money. Marriages rarely survive if parasites are present.” Take this seriously!
Women—You must guard your heart from being led away through novels, magazines, online chats/facebook, TV and other forms of entertainment that blur your perception of reality and put unfair expectations on your husband. Women can lust after possessions or prideful ambition with hearts deceived into saying “I could be happy if I only had this!” But remember,