Thursday, August 20, 2020
Month Theme: Let Brotherly Love Continue
Topic: Marriage and Philadelphia
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:11-20; Hebrews 13:1-9
Main Text:
Hebrews 13:4
4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
The connection between marriage and “philadelphia” (brotherly love) is obvious, because a person’s spouse is one of the closest people to him. Marriage is one of the aspects of our lives in which we experience the greatest love. It is also the place in which the deepest hurts and wounds are inflicted on people. Adultery, divorce, abuse and denial of conjugal rights are some of the areas in which we torture one another in marriage.
It is very easy to opt out of marriage unions just to obtain our freedom. We may wish to do so because our partners are unbelievers or because we think that we can serve God better when we are single. Paul told the Corinthians that they ought not to divorce their spouses in order to serve God (1 Corinthians 7:10-13). If they separated from their partners they were not to remarry. We cannot fully explain the relationship between God and man without looking at the relationship between husband and wife.
Men are to love their wives as their own bodies. Ephesians 5:25-29 says that he who loves his wife loves himself. This must drive us to take another look at marriage. The love revolution must begin from our marriages and homes. Women must discover the love in submission. When women submit to their husbands they are not debasing themselves. Rather they are demonstrating the love of Christ because He made Himself of no reputation and laid down His life for us all. We cannot claim to love God when we hate our own flesh.
Prayer: Pray concerning your marriage that it will be honourable.
Recommended Reading:
"The Love Revolution" and "The Millennium Pages of Love" by Eastwood Anaba
(Find e-books at www.amazon.com)
www.eastwoodanaba.com