love

God has a work for each member of the Body of Christ to fulfill. As each one does their part, the work of winning the lost for the Lord will get done, and then Jesus will return and take us to be with Him for eternity.

Your spouse is an important part of this. We realize many times problems arise in a home where one spouse wants to actively serve God and the other does not. There seems to be no agreement and it is difficult. The temptation may come to give up and quit.

This can be difficult because the flesh has its own ideas! But Matthew 5:44 gives us a clear answer.

We can take a lesson from the church at Corinth. Because of strife and division, Paul had to write to them, “When I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life” (1 Corinthians 3:1).

There is a difference between being attracted to someone and being in love. Feelings are fickle. One day you can be whistling a happy tune and pleased as punch with your significant other, then the next day they annoy you when they chomp their food at the table.

That’s why knowing whether you are in love is less important than knowing if you are spending time with the person God has chosen for you. This is a critical enough decision that it warrants prayer, fasting and listening for His still, small voice. He wants to help you with this important relationship!

The Old Testament writers had a word for the way God loves us—hesed. It is translated as “ever lovingkindness; tenderness; mercy.” Hesed is the force that rises inside someone, causing them to stand up for the benefit of another. Another way of saying it is that it’s the picture of having a Blood Brother. From God’s perspective, it might best be described using John 3:16: “For God so ‘hesed’ the world, that he gave his only Son....”

Unity is vital to marriage, whether deciding on church attendance or any other important issue. God loves you and your spouse deeply, and His main desire is that you walk in unity with one another. Sometimes it may seem difficult to gain common ground on certain issues, but by the power of God you can both walk in unity if you will put your trust in Him.

You can pray the prayer of intercession. Briefly defined, intercession is prayer made in behalf of another person or persons who have brought judgment upon themselves for wrongdoing. The Scriptures teach us that sin provokes God, and because of His just and righteous nature, sin calls for judgment (James 1:15; Romans 6:23). But God has no pleasure in judgment; instead He delights in mercy (Micah 7:18).

The Bible teaches parents to discipline their children in love. It also teaches that spanking can be done with the love of God, and when applied in that love, it is indeed an essential component of God’s system of discipline (Proverbs 13:24, 22:15, 23:12-14, 29:15-17).