Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Love causes growth
Ephesians 5:25-26 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word..." Likewise, wives should edify her husband as well. These actions of help and edification will help each of us to grow spiritually.
Marriage marks another stage in our lives and as married couples, we each grow from singlehood to marriage lives, other than the status growth, we are also challenged to take up more responsibilities unknowingly, especially responsibilities for the family. Both man and woman have our own individual role as married man and woman, and we have expectations for each other too. Even as we remind each other of our flaws and weaknesses, may we open our hearts and minds for God to use our spouse to make us more Christ-like, and may we be willing to learn and change for the better. Praise be to God. :)
Labels: love dare
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Love is fun
Today's passage is from Ecclesiates 9:9: "Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.""God intends marriage to be pleasurable for both of you in many ways." It is not easy for newly weds like us as there has been a handful of disagreements for the past two months and we really need God's wisdom and guidance to do the right thing.Something to bear in mind is, "Being with the person you love the most was never meant to dissolve into mere duty and obligations... You were not born to bicker; but to bask in joy together." May we remember that whenever we need God's help, and may all of us be blessed with the happiness from above more than anything else.
Labels: love dare
Monday, March 18, 2013
Love inspires purity
When God created man and woman, attraction takes place. Man is attracted to woman, and vice versa. That is why God ordained marriage, and hence the saying in today's verse, 1 Corinthians 7:2: "Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband." Marriage keeps us sexually pure to one another. "Those who seek to satisfy their sexual desires outside of His design fall into the poisonous trap of sinning against their own body, their spouse, and God." Having said that, we should fully meet our spouse's needs as well, as by doing so, we help each other to avoid affairs, hence keeping each other sexually pure.
Here's today's prayer. Let us pray for ourselves and our spouse: "Father God, keep us faithful and pure in our marriage. Help us to guard against anything that threatens our intimacy, and bless the bond we have in our sexual relationships. In Jesus' name, amen."
Labels: love dare
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Love unites families
Today's passage is taken from Ruth 4:11-13: "And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman."In the past, I thought that once we enter into marriage, we are to leave our family (see Genesis 2:24). Maybe I took it too literal. In fact, in today's passage, it reminds us that we're not only married to each other, it is also a family affair. I have a another set of parents now, so does my husband. This gives us every opportunity to shine and bear witness for God, as well as calling us to love and support this extended family of ours.
Like in every new friendship, we need time to get to know each other. This means we are bound to have frictions along the way. May we continue to be humble and seek God for wisdom and patience at every encounter. May the glory be God's.
Labels: love dare
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Love builds families
Another purpose of marriage is, it builds a family unit where a couple unites, bears children, and lives a life of Godly testimony especially for the children to pass on to the next generation. I would call this Godly testimony an Inheritance of the family.Today's key verse points us to Genesis 1:28: "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
This is what God has intended for most of us. If we have been blessed to have a spouse, are we fulfilling God's calling if we have been blessed to multiply? Are we passing down the Inheritance to the next generation?
Labels: love dare
Friday, March 15, 2013
Love multiplies itself
Journaling these
devotions down make me internalise the message. Hence, although it is really
tough to update it as soon as I read it, I'll try my best to do it nevertheless.
Today's key verse is from Ecclesiastes 4:9 & 12, "Two are better
than one, Because they have a good reward for their
labour... Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand
him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
The author gave a very good illustration on how the power of two becoming one (a term I would like to call it) applies in our lives. He said that "a person hopping on one leg cannot get very far, very fast. But two legs joining together become the action of running - making you fasting and taking you farther. Two wings don't merely create balance; they enable the other to fly." Isn't it amazing how the power of two becoming one can be? In marriage, "a husband and wife working together offer a solid defence for their families against the influence of a godless culture.. By uniting in His name and agreeing in prayer, their intercession goes to another level. That's when one united with one has one." How powerful, how awesome.
Often, we belittle what we as a couple can do. In fact, when conflict arises, we do not even have faith to turn to God and to our spouse, and bow our heads in prayer. We are so prone to looking for our own solutions.
After today's reading, my prayer for my husband and I, and everyone who is reading this entry, is that we will remember the power of two becoming one. This power doesn't add; it multiplies and runs crazy like wildfire (of course, with God's help). ;)
Labels: love dare
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Love extends help
The reference passage for today is Genesis 2:18: "And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." "Marriage is one of God's unique ways of showing both men and women that we're not all-sufficient in ourselves. We need our spouse and cannot fulfil God's plans for us without their help."Reading this sentence makes me ponder, what does God want us to fulfil as a couple? I believe at different stages of our marriage, there will be different obstacles we have to complete together, and we can only complete that race and win the prize if we work together. My prayer for my husband and I is, to learn and grow together in the Lord, to be self-giving and love God and the other more than ourselves. It is only when I'm selfless then would I be able to stretch out my hand and reach out to the Help I need.
Together with the lessons for the past two days, I would sum it up with today's and call it "The Purpose of Marriage". Love offers companionship; love brings completeness; love extends help: the passages from these chapters tell us that God created man and woman to be one so that we will not be alone, and we need each other to fulfil the duty God has for us as a couple. How beautiful!
Labels: love dare