THE CHRISTIAN HOME
Dear Reader,
It is a great joy for me to bring God’s Word your way today. It is a new day for you! Today, I want to show you what true love does in the home.
Love is a vital key for the effective running of the home. Love is the price every member of your home must pay to have a glorious home. The Word of God says: ''And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins ''(1 Peter 4:8).
If you want your home to be a glorious one, love is the requirement and it is mandatory. This love does not have its origin in the world, but in God. The Word of God says: He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love (1 John 4:8). A Christian home must be a home where the love of God is practiced.
WHAT TRUE LOVE DOES
By true love, I mean God’s kind of love that is demonstrated in actions. Let’s see in practical terms how Jesus loves and how He expects us to love. I shall be taking my text from I Corinthians 13:4-5. Reading from ‘The Living Bible’ it says: Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, Never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong.
True love is patient and kind:
Jesus, while on earth was an epitome of patience and kindness. He tolerated, accommodated and endured with His disciples. He could have given up out of anger, but He didn’t. Going beyond His disciples to the Jews at large, whose sick He healed, whose dead He raised and whose demoniacs He freed. Jesus was an epitome of patience. He closed His eyes to their jeering and went to the cross for all our sakes. He was kindness personified! Many miracles He wrought were based on compassion.
God instructed man to love as He did. Many things try our patience as husbands, most of all, imperfect wives. But if Christ was patient with us, then husbands ought to endure and be patient with their wives.
True love is never jealous or envious:
I want you to know that Jesus was never jealous of His disciples’ achievements. The seventy went out in twos and wrought great deliverance. Jesus only replied: …He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father (John 14:12). Jesus’ love compelled Him not to envy the works of His disciples, but to desire that they did greater works. Likewise, husbands need not to feel threatened by their wives’ successes. Rather, they should wish them well and encourage them to put in their best. Even if the wife earns more money, perfect love places a demand on the husband to desire only good for her.
True love is never boastful or proud:
Jesus never spoke proudly of Himself, He never boasted. Everything He said and did revolved around God, the Father. The Word of God says: …The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do… (John 5:19). Jesus had cause to boast about His works, but His eyes were focused on God and on the ones He came to save. Some husbands tend to get carried away with the things they provide in the house and are misled to think: “I am the breadwinner in this house, I do so and so, I give and give and give!” However, when you realise that God is the source of your riches, you will stop being boastful.
True love is not selfish, haughty or rude:
“Me, myself and I”, has destroyed so many homes. Another name for it is selfishness. Marriage is built on selflessness and courtesy. Jesus, our perfect example, was not selfish. He relinquished His throne to live on the earth for thirty-three and a half years. The Word of God says: For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Husbands must pay the price of selflessness, if they want an enviable marriage.
Does not demand its own way:
Love does not demand its own way! That does not mean that the man should become subservient, no! The key word here is “demand”. This word means “to claim as a right.” Love means asking, “Could you do this please?” You’re neither begging, nor rude. It is a mixture of authority and courtesy. The Word of God says: Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones (Proverbs 16:24).
....to be continued in my next blog. God bless you