Continuing on from yesterday, Paul gives the command that we be imitators of God and that we walk in love. All the other things we strive to do as Christians - study the Bible, show compassion to the poor, share the gospel, pray faithfully, serve the community, etc - all will flow out of love; both for God and for others. He presents us also with the other side:
"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."Just another evidence to the fact that this walk with Christ is a black and white thing. It's not fuzzy nor does it have 'gray areas' as the world would have us believe. Walk with God, follow Him completely, love Him with your whole heart and enjoy the benefits of His salvation OR follow the world & it's greed, lusts & pleasures and forfeit your place in heaven. I'm not trying to simplify Christianity, only the results. There's not many paths as some believe, there's really only two - choose today which way you will go (Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 7:13-14, John 14:6).
Paul also relays that if we are to walk in love and in wisdom that we should submit to one another in the fear of God (or in other words - cuz He said so). Thus begins the famous diatribe on marriage - that wives should submit to their husbands and husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church (v. 22-33). As I read this again, I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure you ladies are getting off easy yet again (see Genesis 3). Here, God calls women to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord and maybe that's kinda hard. He establishes a foundational principle in marriage which, if studied more carefully, really starts to work out for you ladies in the end. So what are men called to do? Be to our wives what Christ was to the church. Are you serious? Need I remind you what Christ did and is still doing for the church?! Come on man...OK, got that off my chest.
But seriously, for me this was a great passage of scripture to read over the past couple of days, especially with Kendra being pregnant. We're called to love our wives and, based on Jesus' example, pray for them, sanctify them with the Word, nourish & cherish them. Wives (can I say this?...yea, of course I can) submit to your husbands as he is the head of the household, regardless of income, education or spiritual maturity. Verse 33 is of particular significance: "and let the wife see that she respects her husband." God wisely commands us to do that which by nature we're drawn to anyway: women deeply desire love and men equally desire respect. I couldn't begin to do this topic justice in a blog so I'll wrap it up here. These things that we're called to do, we're also able to accomplish them no matter how hard it sounds. We're able because it's God's desire that it happen and somehow I don't think God engages in wishful thinking.
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