September 8
Making God More Meaningful
For reading & meditation - 1 John 4:7-21
"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." (v. 12)
We have been seeing over the past two days that the first principle to follow in healing the brokenness that comes through troubles in the home is to depend on the Lord to meet our basic needs. You might ask yourself: if the Lord can meet my needs for security, self-worth, and significance, why do I need a human partner at all? The answer to that question flows out of the next principle: In the relationship with your partner or your children, focus more on what you can give than what you can get. This can be exceedingly difficult, of course, if you are not allowing God to meet your needs, but once you are secure in Him, everything He asks you to do becomes possible. Assuming our needs for security, significance, and self-worth are being met in God, we are then in a position to fulfil God's true purpose for marriage, which is this: God, who is an invisible, intangible, eternal Being, has designed marriage to be a visible, tangible demonstration of the reality of His love as we minister love and consideration to one another. Just think of it - in marriage we have the marvelous privilege of demonstrating God's love to our partners in a way that they can feel, touch, and understand. Our love will not add to the fact of their security in Christ, but it will add to the degree to which they feel it. No wonder Martin Luther said that marriage was the greatest way God had of teaching us the truths about Himself. And the second greatest way? You've got it! The church!
Prayer: Father, to realize that I have the privilege of bringing the reality of Your love to others, and thus making You more real to them, is so incredible that it almost blows my mind! But I know it is true. Make me worthy of this privilege. For Jesus' sake. Amen
For Further Study
Matthew 10; Luke 6:38; Proverbs 11:25; Acts 20:35; 2 Corinthians 9:61. What did Jesus teach His disciples?
2. How can you demonstrate this today?
