Tag: bible

November 2024: Study of 1 Peter 2

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2 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Have you ever seen a marriage that is full of slander and malice? I know I have. Some of those marriages not surprisingly ended up in divorce but some of them stayed married until the bitter end. I always wondered how you could stay married to someone that you obviously hate. Marriage is hard enough even when you are head over heels in love with someone. These toxic marriages that I saw were not Christian or had God at the center of their marriage. Sure the wife would sometimes go to church, but it was just more of a Sunday tradition rather than craving spiritual food. God doesn’t want our Christian marriages to look like those of non-believers. We are set apart and different from the rest of the world. As Peter says we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Other people do not know how good God is because they have never given their lives over to Him. And if we are not children of God, then by default we must be children of the Evil one. There is no in-between on neutral territory. No, in the spiritual world we are either saved or not, children of light or darkness, your father is either God or Satan.

Ladies, have you ever gone to those Bible studies where other women use the time of prayer requests to slander their husbands, all in the name of “I need prayer for this”? That is Satan working his way into your marriage, trying to destroy it from the inside out, all the while making it look like you are doing it for all the right reasons. The devil is crafty and he can make any kind of sin look good and appealing with the right makeup on it. Don’t fall for his lies, and don’t get sucked into conversations with other wives complaining about your spouses. In fact, do something different. Make a rule that only positive and uplifting talk about your husband comes from your mouth. If you are frustrated with him and don’t have anything nice to say, then do that in your personal prayer time. Your friends and family should think that your husband is the most wonderful man alive after they listen to how you talk about him. If you constantly slander your husband in front of others, they will eventually start to think he really is this terrible guy. Once they start thinking and believing those things to be true, it will be very hard to convince them otherwise. Plus, even if your husband is a handful right now, that doesn’t mean that he is not capable of change in the future. God works miracles every day and your husband could be one of them. So speak highly of him when you are among others, the more good things you find to say about him, the more you will notice your own opinion of him changes too.

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,

a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who trusts in him

will never be put to shame.”

7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”

8 and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble

and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

What does it mean to be the cornerstone? In our modern society, this analogy can get lost on us, but back in Jesus’s day, the cornerstone was traditionally the first stone laid for a structure, with all other stones laid in reference. A cornerstone marks the geographical location by orienting a building in a specific direction. Historically, the cornerstone was the most important part of any building. The total weight of an edifice rested on this particular stone, which, if removed, would collapse the whole structure. The cornerstone was also the key to keeping the walls straight. The builders would take sightings along the edges of this part of the building. If the cornerstone was set properly, the stonemasons could be assured that all the other corners of the building would be at the appropriate angles as well. Thus, the cornerstone became a symbol of that which held life together. Jesus holds our lives together as well. He is the example that we look to keeping our eyes focused on him so that our lives don’t end up crooked. I know if Jesus was removed from my life, it would certainly crumble. In the last 60-70 years of the United States, we have slowly removed Jesus from our lives from taking Him out of schools to promoting divorce and abortion. No wonder our country is becoming weak and starting to crumble.

I also find it interesting that Peter says that our cornerstone (Jesus) was rejected by man and caused them to stumble, but chosen and precious to God. Isn’t it interesting that something precious to God, we put to death? If we don’t think we have a sinful nature, all we have to do is look at Jesus’ crucifixion. Some people will say that we have gotten better since then. I have a hard time believing that. Just because we don’t crucify people in the streets anymore doesn’t mean our hearts have changed. Now instead, we use abortion as a means of birth control. Our human hearts have been sick and sinful for a very long time, we just express it in different ways. Jesus is precious to God and yet we turn our back on Him and reject Him daily. But what if we stopped rejecting Him and made Him the cornerstone of not just our lives but our marriages? How different would our lives and our marriages look? For me, it would certainly change the things that I find annoying and bothersome. Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a pattern of complaining about the simple things in life. But I know if Jesus was sitting on my couch with me, I would never even think about complaining about the mail all over the island and how many shoes are lying all over the house. If Jesus were sitting on my couch, I hope I would be asking His advice on how to raise my kids and how to deal with difficult situations in my marriage. So instead of finding things to complain about, look at the bigger picture, open your Bibles, and ask God how to handle life. Just because Jesus isn’t physically sitting in your living room, doesn’t not mean that you don’t have Him living in your heart, and if you want to talk to Him, your Bible is your friend. It will tell you everything you need to know about Jesus and His answer to pretty much any problem life will throw your way.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Do you ever stop to think that you are chosen by God or a royal priest? I know for me those can seem a little far-fetched. We see other instances throughout the Bible where Jesus reminds us that it was Him who pursued us, not the other way around. In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” Ephesians 1:4 says, “He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” It is undeniable that God has chosen those who are believers in Jesus. But why? Is there something special about me that led God to choose me? The short answer is, no, God did not choose us because of anything inherent in ourselves. He chose us out of His love and mercy, and for His glory. We see that God’s choosing of us is linked to His love. God’s choice is something that gives Him pleasure and brings Him praise. God’s choosing of us highlights His gracious character, not our merit. We know we are not saved because of our good works but solely because of God’s grace. We are all sinners who fail to measure up to God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Apart from Jesus all deserve death (Romans 6:23). But in Jesus, we can have life. It is not because of who we are that God chooses us but because of who He is. And as Peter tells us in this passage, the proper response to being chosen by God is to declare God’s praise and give Him worship.

What about this Royal priesthood thing? Last time I checked I was neither royal nor a priest so why does Peter tell us this is how we are viewed by God? In the ancient world, a priest was responsible for leading the ritual worship of a deity, especially in correctly offering the proper sacrifices. Priests were “selected from among the people” and were “appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” Priests were also considered to be distinct from ordinary people. In God’s eyes, we are very distinct from nonbelievers. We are told in (1 John 3:10) Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. We are either considered a child of God or not, and if not, our default is to being a child of Satan. We, just like the priests have been selected, and set apart, for service to God. The priests were doing something that other people were not allowed to do. As Christ’s church, we are a royal priesthood to declare the praises of God. And each of us, as a part of that royal priesthood, is responsible for offering sacrifices pleasing to God and representing God to the world around us. Being a part of this royal priesthood is both a privilege and a responsibility.

We were also told that once we were not a people and once we had not received mercy but everything changes when you get saved. Now you are a child of God and all your sins are washed away by Jesus’ blood.

Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Living in a pagan place can definitely be challenging. Sometimes I feel like the United States, even though we were founded on Christian principles, has quickly backslid into a pagan, God-hating society. Since we live in a Nation that is so hostile towards God, in their words and actions, how do we as Christians stand out? I look to President Trump, even though he is not a shining example of a Christian, he is living proof of how others tried to destroy him, and accuse him of all kinds of terrible things, and yet the truth prevailed and he stood innocent before them. It’s difficult when you live in a pagan society not to get caught up in the evil things that they are doing. At first, the little things may not seem so bad and we are all inclined to want to fit in with the people we spend lots of time with. But we must be the light upon the hill and stand out for all to see. Don’t give them any ammunition against you, they already don’t like you because you are a Christian. So show them how the ideal Christian behaves, not the Christian that they are afraid everyone is like, a hypocrite. (resist sin)  

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

With an election coming up, this verse is a helpful reminder of how we are to behave while we are still here on the earth. We are to submit ourselves to every human authority. That does not mean that human authority will always treat us right or fairly. There are always innocent people in jail and people who pay consequences that are not appropriate for their sins. Remember in Romans when we are told “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Romans 13:1. God raises up good leaders and the bad ones. We never know what God’s plan is for us here on this earth but we still need to act as Christians and obey the authorities.

In Christ, we are free from the penalty of sin eternally speaking but that does not mean that the penalty of sin here on earth will not have real consequences. As Christians we are free from the power of sin, we are no longer slaves to sin but that certainly does not mean that we are given permission to sin. We are free in Christ but not free to live however we want, indulging the flesh believers aren’t free to sin, but free to live holy lives in Christ. Christian freedom is one of the many paradoxes of the Christian faith. True freedom means willingly becoming a slave to Christ, and no longer being a slave to sin. Being a slave to Christ is not like any other type of slavery. When we become a slave to Christ it does not mean what we think of slavery, it means that we must humbly serve one another instead of seeking position and status, we remember the Lord’s teaching that the greatest in His kingdom are those who serve others. As bondservants of Christ, like Paul, we are to live to please God and not people, “doing the will of God from the heart” We bow down to Him alone. Our priority should always start with loving and honoring God and then taking that love and showing it to others.

18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate but also to those who are harsh. 

As we continue down the topic of submission to authority, we are told to submit to our good masters and the mean ones. Even though we don’t have slaves and masters anymore, we do have management and employees. Most of us can identify with having one of each of these types of bosses. There will always be wonderful people to work for and others who will be harsh and difficult to please. It doesn’t matter the kind of person who we are working for, we are still called to be a light in this dark world. We are called to treat kind people and harsh people all the same. Sure it’s a lot easier to be nice and hard-working to someone who’s nice to you, everyone can do that but we are not everyone and we were made to stand out and be different because of Christ’s blood that saves us. You never know when your good behavior and willingness to obey authority will catch the eye of the unbeliever and turn their world upside down.

9 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

22 “He committed no sin,

and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 

How many of us want to retaliate when we are being lied about or falsely accused? It is our human nature to protect our reputation and our honor, but Jesus did no such thing. He acted as our example in all situations. He showed us that in some circumstances it doesn’t matter what we say or that we made no mistakes along the way, if people want you destroyed and gone, there is nothing that will stand in their way. I’m sure we have all had those arguments with people that no matter how much fact and logic we tell them, they don’t want to hear it. The same was true for Jesus. Everyone who was falsely accusing Him did not care about the truth, they didn’t care that He was the son of God, all they knew was that He wasn’t fitting the mold of what they thought the messiah should be. As Peter reminds us, he did not retaliate, He didn’t threaten them, He trusted His life to God the Father. I know when I am facing opposition and condemnation, I have a hard time staying silent and trusting in God’s plan for my life. I want to stand up and fight and let people know that Jesus was perfect but I’m a close second and this is an injustice. What if instead we just surrendered to God and let Him be in control of what happens in our lives? Like the Jewish leaders who wanted Jesus dead, sometimes there is nothing that we can say that will change the minds of those who accuse us.

24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Remember at the Lord’s supper when Jesus told us that His body would be given up for us? He died for us, He gave up His life for us, and He suffered for us. Christ suffered for us to follow in His steps, and to be our example. He suffered patiently and enduringly but His suffering was more unjust than anything we could ever go through because we are sinful. He also suffered as our substitute, as the one who took our place. In Isaiah 53 we learn more about the prophecy of what Jesus was to endure on our behalf. Christ paid that price that we could not pay so that we can be free. God does not transfer the penalty from the guilty to the innocent, but He bears it himself. We are not tainting God by giving Him our sins, He willingly took them from us. He took on our sins voluntarily, with no outside influences forcing Him to do so. The word “bore” means to carry a heavy weight. The heavy weight of sin is so heavy that it even makes creation groan. Bearing inequity means to endure the punishment that we deserve. In God’s realm, our punishment is eternal separation from God in Hell. It’s not just physical punishment but also spiritual punishment. He did more than forgive us of sin and the removal of guilt. He did this to change us, to transform us into righteous people, not to stay as the sinful people we once were.

Jesus had to save us because we were constantly going astray. Isaiah also makes this statement. This straying means we are continually turning toward sin. Now we turn not towards our sin but towards Jesus, our shepherd and guardian. Jesus is referred to many times throughout the Bible as our shepherd. Jesus guards, oversees and guides His sheep, even to the point of death for us. It is easy in this life to be led astray by all the fancy and shiny things that we think will make us happy, but Jesus is always close by, keeping an eye on us to help us stay focused on the truth. Jesus is truth and He is our life source. It is in our best interest that we stay close to Him so that we are protected and safe. But if we do go astray, we know that Jesus will leave the 99 to find the one.

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October 2024: 1 Peter 1, An apostle of Jesus Christ,

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To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Praise to God for a Living Hope

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have suffered grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. We should always praise our Lord. Even if we are walking through dark circumstances we know that we have an inheritance that this world can not take away from us no matter how hard others may try. Thankfully our inheritance is stored in heaven for us where no moth, rust or fire can destroy it. Peter reminds us that in this world we will have all kinds of trials. For some of us, our trials are focused on our marriage. Being married is not always easy. We are two totally different people, raised in different ways, with different hopes and goals for our future. That alone is just the tip of the iceberg on the mountain of problems that we can face in our marriage. Sometimes when I take a look at other marriages and the struggles they go through, it makes me rethink the significance of my own problems in our marriage. When I look at how some marriages struggle with addiction to porn, actions from their past that come back to haunt them, or how they have suffered devastating heartbreak. But Peter says no matter what we suffer, big or small, it is to refine our faith, and by that, we show Jesus honor and glory. Jesus doesn’t cause bad things to happen in our lives just so that He can get the glory. Bad things happen in our lives because we live in a sinful and fallen world. We unlike Jesus do not live sinless lives. We are bound to sin no matter how much we try not to. Why? Because we are all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, the sin curse was placed on them and every generation to follow. Even creation itself bears the curse of sin. We have weeds and pests that destroy crops, animals by the hundreds that can kill us easily and plenty of food that can and does make us sick. Sin is all around us and there is no way for us to escape it until we are in heaven. Peter says that these trials happen to us so that our faith is tested. We need to prove to God and ourselves how genuine our love for the Lord really is. If you encounter one bump in the road and then you ditch Jesus for something better, obviously your faith was only on the inside. There was no changed heart. You were only honoring him with your lips for the approval of man. I’m sure we all know people like that. They look like the perfect Christian on the outside but as soon as trials hit them, they bail. Maybe they just liked having Christian friends or they liked the people at church rather than at work, but no matter what the reason, their true intentions will show at some point in time. Then you have the others who it seems like no matter what life throws at them, no matter how bad the hurt, they keep praising Jesus. Sometimes Jesus is all we have at the end of the day. We may lose our friends, family, jobs, and house and all that’s left is you and Jesus. But He is all that you need, and He is the only one who can rebuild your life. Sometimes when it is just you and Jesus left standing, you realize how much you need Him, love Him, and completely trust and worship Him. You also see how much He loves you – in case you forgot about the cross – but you get to see His love in a very real way in your own life. Some people need big tragedies and trials to see it while others don’t. Either way, that overwhelming sense of love that you have for Jesus is expressed with praise and honor. I mean how else do you show the God of this world how much you love Him? Don’t let trials get you down, this may be the time when you feel closest and most loved by God.

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

If you are like me, you read the New Testament and think about how lucky the apostles were to be side by side with Jesus for three years. They ate with him, drank with him, and witnessed miracles firsthand. I know how I feel just reading about the miracles, I couldn’t imagine how I would feel if I saw one right before my very eyes. Even though we can look back at that point in time and think how lucky they were to be there with Jesus, many of the prophets and Old Testament people thought that we, the people on the other side of the cross, were the lucky ones. If you think about it, we have a perfect 20/20 hindsight vision of everything from the dawn of time and seeing scripture unfold through history, fulfilling proficay after proficy. Peter tells us that even the angels get excited about our salvation, and if angels love to look at the work of God in saving sinners like us, how much more should we who are the very beneficiaries of that salvation (not just onlookers) love to look into it and be thankful for it. When was the last time you thought about your salvation? The price it cost, the love it took, you know…all of it. It’s something as Christians that we think about when we get saved but not a whole lot after that. Sometimes we don’t want to think about it. There is so much emotion wrapped up in the cross and our salvation that it makes me ugly cry every time. As believers, I think it is good for us to take a step back and consider our salvation, to just really evaluate our lives, and how we are living out God’s calling on our lives. Most people around the age of 40-50 go through some sort of mid-life crisis. They realize that their time here on this earth is running out and most of the time they think about all the things they haven’t gotten to do or experience. Sometimes this involves sports cars or career changes. But when if we did a salvation mid-life crisis. What if we sat down and asked the hard questions? How am I doing at my job for God? Am I preaching the gospel, am I telling people about Jesus, does my behavior model that of our savior? It’s so easy for us to get comfortable with how things are going that we don’t stretch ourselves and flex our spiritual muscles. This can be a really good exercise for couples to do together. Discuss what you are doing well and what needs to be improved upon in your spiritual life with your spouse. Don’t be too hard on yourselves, not everyone is able to or needs to sell everything and move to a foreign land and become missionaries. You can be an amazing missionary to your family, friends, and co-workers right where you are but growth nonetheless is needed.

13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy because I am holy.”

As a child, I couldn’t wait to grow up and be an adult. I couldn’t wait until I could make my own rules, and do what I wanted when I wanted. Then you grow up to be an adult and you realize that you can do whatever you want but there are consequences for everything. Then when you get saved you become a child again, a child of God this time. God expects us to be obedient to Him, our heavenly father. We are told not to conform to our evil desires. From birth, we have certain ways that we act. At first, they are for self-preservation but then later they develop into more complex emotions and behaviors. As a baby, which is at the mercy of the world around it (and its own needs), we really have no ego to speak of until we begin to differentiate ourselves from our caregivers and the demands of the outer environment. Then as we grow to become toddlers, we become impulsive, driven by our emotions, including sexual and aggressive drives, and interpret caregiver responses in black-and-white terms as either being ”nice to me” or ”mean to me.” The world is ”good” if it meets my needs and ”bad” if it doesn’t. As small children, we are only able to focus on present events rather than being caught up in the past or future. As children, we are very selfish. It isn’t until we grow and mature that we start to consider others, start to consider how our current actions will affect our future, and so forth. The same should be true as we grow and mature as Christians. We are called to be sober-minded and act in holy ways because now our heavenly father is Holy, unlike our earthly fathers. He wants us to stand out so that when others see us, they can immediately recognize who our father is. This also includes acting holy even when things are difficult with your spouse. Your spouse is also a child of God and even the times when he is not acting holy, you still need to do so.

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,

“All people are like grass,

and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;

the grass withers and the flowers fall,

25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.

Have you ever thought about how truly short our time on this earth is. Sometimes that thought is just so deep it’s hard to grasp or understand. The thought of dying someday can feel overwhelming and very scary, but as born-again Christians, we know that our physical lives will end but then we go on to spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. We have been reborn again with an imperishable seed so when our body withers away and eventually dies, our soul lives on forever. But what about the time that we have here on this Earth? Peter tells us we have been purified and that we are to obey God so we can have sincere love for one another. But what does it mean to have sincere love for others? Sincere love is not something we are used to here in our sin-cursed world. Most of the time we love people when they make us feel good, but what about those who are difficult to be around and therefore difficult to love? In this world, people will not keep you happy 100% of the time. This is why you need to learn to love them even when they seem to be unlovable.

When we hear of people getting divorced and we ask them what the issues were, inevitably you will hear one of the reasons be, “I’m just not happy anymore”. I do not dismiss that some people have incredibly difficult marriages and circumstances that they live through, but we are called to stay married until death do us part, not until our happiness fades. Your spouse is the one person on planet Earth who should love you unconditionally. Unfortunately, we don’t know what unconditional love looks like. Only God truly understands that kind of love. As we walk and grow in our relationship with Jesus, we should grow in our marriages and understand that love is just more than having lustful feelings or being happy 24/7. Love means sticking by your spouse no matter what he may be walking through. Life gets tough and hard but if you throw in the towel every time that happens, you are cheating yourself and others from valuable learning experiences. I don’t know about you but I learn the most and grow closer to God when I am going through trials. Sincere love is all about sticking by your spouse, comforting him, and praying for him and with him. Unbelievers walk away from their marriages. If you claim to be a Christian then you need to stick by your spouse instead of walking away. Walking away is easy but if God wanted us to have easy lives, He would fix all the problems in our lives the instant we were born again. We know that He does not spare us from the trials of this life. He is testing our faith and seeing if our actions line up with our behavior. What does your behavior say about you??

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A New Beginning

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Welcome back, friends. I wanted to share with you how things are going to be changing around here at 2 Lives 1 Flesh. I was starting to feel like the topics I was talking about surrounding marriage were getting a little repetitive and none of us have time for that. What I also found missing out on my own personal bible study time, was a focused and thorough exploration of different books of the bible. So I decided to do a monthly bible study where we will go through different books of the Bible and talk about what it looks like to grow in Christ and to grow in our marriages. I will try to always point things back to how a topic can affect your marriage. These will be longer studies than my weekly blogs, and they will be posted on the first Wednesday of every month, but I am hoping you guys will like them and get some good Bible knowledge in the process. Please let me know how you like things and if you have certain books you would like me to cover. I will be starting off with 1 Peter. I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks next week.

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Honesty Is Key

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We are told not to keep secrets from our spouses and not to lie to them. But being honest with your spouse is a little more complicated than just communication that is free from lies. Sometimes you can be too honest with your spouse. Being honest with them does not mean saying the first thing that pops into your head, nor does it mean getting something off your chest. When you are being honest with your spouse you need to do so in a way that reflects God’s love, and that means giving the right information in the right way. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:25-27. Sometimes as the years tick by in our marriage we start to lose the ability we lose the ability to share important information with our spouse. We stop coordinating our lives and spending quality time together. This is why you often hear people say that they have just drifted apart. Honest communication is the glue that holds every relationship together. Some couples have mastered the art of honesty in marriage, but they have no concept of tenderness. Nagging, criticism, and sarcasm are offered freely without a second thought about how they might be received. In a couple’s dogged pursuit of honesty, they might use words that tear each other down rather than build each other up.

When you commit to being honest with your spouse that means being completely transparent with him and having nothing to hide from each other, being totally vulnerable with each other can be scary at first, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And it can transform your marriage into a safe, sweet, and most intimate relationship. Words can draw us closer to each other, or they can drive us further apart. Try to eliminate criticism, profanity, and little white lies (like “I’m fine”) from your vocabulary. Instead, speak the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:15. As a loving spouse, you need to speak the truth wrapped in tenderness and grace, even when it may be difficult to hear or say. Tenderhearted transparency is an often-overlooked secret to lifelong love that requires the courage to confess our sins and shortcomings to each other without judgment, and the grace to offer and receive forgiveness. It also means refusing to keep score of one another’s faults. As you practice tenderhearted transparency and honesty in your marriage — being vulnerable with each other, speaking the truth in love, and giving one another grace, forgiveness, and encouragement — you’ll be amazed at the difference this will make in your relationship.

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Slow to Anger

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Have you ever felt guilty about the anger that you have shown towards your spouse? I know if you are like me there are too many to count. Anger, irritation, and frustration can all lead us to act in ways that are unbiblical and not pleasing to God. But how do you get around these emotions without acting like a fool? The Bible tells us to rid ourselves of all of them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech from your mouth. Colossians 3:8. In the bible we see many examples of how being angry can cause us to sin. When we look back at why Cain killed Abel, it was because Abel’s sacrifice was pleasing to God and he became angry over that. King Saul tried to kill David because of anger, the same thing happened to the Pharacies killing Jesus. Anger starts us off on the fast track to sin. In the story of Cain and Abel, the Lord tells Cain how he needs to respond. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy? If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4: 6-7. God tells us to master our emotions, especially anger before it gets the best of us.

Even God gets angry but His anger is a righteous anger. But He, being compassionate, forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger and did not stir up all His wrath. Psalm 78:38. God shows us that our emotions can be controlled and restrained even when we are angry for the right reasons. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103: 8-10. Not only does God restrain His anger, but He is also “abounding in steadfast love.” He never ever runs out of a love that never, ever waivers. When I think about God’s holy, set apart, transcendent nature in light of my struggle against sin, it is the best news that God is not only patiently withholding anger, but He is eager to lavish us with His love. Instead of dealing with our anger towards our spouses why don’t we put aside the anger, put on love, and let God deal with our husbands in the way that only He can. We know if there is discipline that needs to happen, His discipline is perfect. And when you need love and forgiveness, God has got that covered too.

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Out Of The Heart, The Mouth Speaks

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But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and slanderous statements. Matthew 15:18-19. The heart is where we first commit sin. It is where ideas brew and grow, eventually causing us to take action towards that sin. The more we dwell on sinful thoughts and feelings, the more likely we are to act upon them. Even our modern-day psychiatry understands that thinking negative things can have dangerous consequences. Negativity is often a product of depression or insecurity. It can stem from illness, life events, personality problems, and substance abuse. Like many things in life, negativity too, can become a habit. Frequent criticism, cynical thoughts, and denial can encourage sadness. These negative tendencies can cause our brain to distort the truth and make it even more difficult to break the negative cycle. Negative thoughts lead to negative emotions, those emotions build up in our hearts tempting us to want to act out in sin. The mind is a powerful thing and what you feed can affect it in a powerful way. Breaking the cycle of sinful and intrusive thoughts is very difficult but it can be done. Remember, God knows all the challenges we face in this world, that’s why he gives us the Bible full of good advice on how to conquer any problem that comes our way.

The Bible tells us, that the best way to get rid of sinful and intrusive thoughts, is to fill our minds and our hearts with God’s word. We are reminded in the Bible just how sinful we truly are and how easy it is for us to fall into sinful ways, but God gives us plenty of ways to help combat sin. In 1 Corinthians 13:4 God tells us that, Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. When you love your spouse, these character traits should reign supreme. While they can get under our skin and cause us frustration, we are called in turn to respond in love. Paul also reminds us, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7. What I love more than anything in this verse is that if we pray, are thankful, and let God know what is on our hearts, He will guard our hearts and our minds. Sometimes the only way that you get around negative thoughts, is to have the power of God on your side. I don’t know about you, but I need all the help from God I can get. I have no power on my own to fight all the sinful things of this world. That is why Jesus came and died for us on the cross because we can do nothing without Him.

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Submissive Like Christ

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Submission has turned into a nasty word over the last century. Thanks to feminism, submission has become letting husbands rule and dominate us and we have no say or opinion. Unfortunately, we don’t think of submission any other way because we don’t understand what healthy submission looks like. The good news is that we don’t need to look too far or too hard to see a perfect example of submission. In Philippians 2:8 we are told, And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. Christ was submissive and obedient to God the Father because He knew God’s will was needed for the salvation of humanity. Jesus was even submissive to God when the two are considered to be equals. You will notice there was no power struggle between the two of them, even during Christ’s life here on earth. Sure our husbands can predict the future, nor do they always act with the purest of intentions, but we are still called to submit. If you feel like your husband’s leadership is not biblical, seek God in prayer and then approach your husband with gentleness and humility.

Did you know being submissive to your husband can make you more beautiful? You heard me right. The Bible tells us, In the same way, you wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won over without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your pure and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or putting on apparel; but it should be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way the holy women of former times, who hoped in God, also used to adorn themselves, being subject to their own husbands. 1 Peter 3:1-5 Our beauty runs deeper than just how we look on the outside. As someone who has lived over four decades, I can tell you that your beauty will fade, your skin will sag, and things that you tolerated well in your past, do not mean you will accept them well as you age. Your husband should not only be attracted to your physical beauty but also the beauty of your spirit. Your spirit should become more beautiful every year as your relationship with the Lord grows and gets stronger. We can only have spiritual growth and spiritual beauty when our bond with God deepens and, learn to love Him and trust Him fully. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30. When we fear the Lord, we are obedient to him and obedience and submission go hand in hand. Love God by obeying His word and being the wife He intended you to be.

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If Your Brother Sins, Rebuke Him

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In keeping with the theme from last week about responding biblically to your spouse, this week we will talk about how to handle a situation when your spouse is acting in a way that is outside God’s law. As Christians, we are obligated not to turn a blind eye to sin no matter who that is. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. Luke 17:3. Doing this is not to boast or to find delight in someone else flaws, but to help them restore their relationship with God. Please don’t also rebuke your spouse for every sin he commits. I’m sure you wouldn’t want him doing the same to you. When we rebuke someone it’s because their sin is causing a wedge in their relationship with God. And subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. Ephesians 5:21. Not only is it ok for a wife to rebuke her husband, but it is expected. She is God’s gift to her husband to help him draw closer to the Lord and encourages his faithful living. If he is drifting away from the Lord and falling into sin, the chances of him leading his family astray are pretty high as well. This rebuking should be done with humility and in love. Anything other than that is sinful on the wife’s part. A wife should first examine her own heart when approaching her husband with his sin. The purpose of her reproach should be to restore her husband to God, not to expose him or pour guilt upon him.

There may be other times when your husband acts foolishly or has foolish and unreasonable demands for you. The Bible is very clear about how to respond to these types of situations. Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, Or you will also be like him. Proverbs 26:4. This means we do retaliate with anger, harsh words, clamming up, or returning evil for evil. As a wife, you must learn how to respond to your husband’s foolishness in a God-honoring way. Many times throughout Jesus’ ministry, we see him asking people why they are responding to Him in a certain way. In the book of John, we see Jesus respond to the high priest in this manner. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple area, where all the Jews congregate; and I said nothing in secret. Why are you asking Me? Ask those who have heard what I spoke to them. Look: these people know what I said.”John 18:20-21. However when we take Jesus’ approach, we must remember that we are not sinless like Jesus but instead sinful, so be prepared to get some kickback from your spouse. No matter what we need to say to our spouses we must remember that the word of God is our most valuable tool. With this tool, we should be gentle and have a quiet manner, while also maintaining a submissive attitude. Confronting your spouse is hard but is necessary. Do it in prayer and careful consideration and always in love.

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Responding Biblically

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Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21. As mere humans we can bring death to someone with our words. Has someone ever said something to you that just cut you to the bone? I know I have. That old saying “sticks and stone will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” could not be more false. Words can destroy someone, but on the flip side, our words can build up, encourage, and bring forth new life. This could not be more true when dealing with your spouse. We all know our spouses will sin against us many times throughout our marriage and we will do the same. The taming of the tongue is one of a wife’s first steps into being submissive to her husband. Failure to communicate biblically is a sin because you are not being obedient to God. If we think about what we are going to say to our husbands and how our tone will be, before we say anything, then we have a greater chance of having a God-honoring speech come from our lips. Plus if we respond with kinder words and a less judgmental tone in our voices, the chances of your husband responding better greatly improve. Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21. We have a choice as a wife and as a Christian of how we respond when people sin against us, and they will. This sin will happen when we least expect it, from the people we won’t expect, and there will be those times when it will be very expected. When this does happen, whether expected or not, we must respond with the right words and the right actions. We are told by Peter, All of you be harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you would inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:8-9. It’s hard not to want to get back at your husband when he hurts you, but rather than dwelling on what he did and how you can settle the score, pray for him and let God guide your thoughts on ways that you can bless your husband. After all, that’s what Jesus did for us. There are so many ways that God could even the score with each and every one of us. Instead, He sent His son to die for our sins. He returned the hurt that we did to Him into a loving response that ultimately heals our relationship with Him so that when we pass from this life to the next, we will not be eternally separated from Him. And thank God for that. Don’t try to separate yourself from your spouse, find ways to build that relationship back together.

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Don’t Fight Against Your Spouse, Fight Against Evil

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Sometimes it doesn’t take much for an argument to begin among spouses. It can be as simple as a look or a simple phrase that can turn things into a 3-day battle. But what if I told you that fighting with your spouse was a waste of energy? Your spouse is not the problem, Satan is. What if I told you that Satan was sitting in the background planting seeds of sin in your and your husband’s mind? He does not come right out and start problems, he likes to make it look like everyone else is the problem. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:11-17) Don’t put your time and energy into fighting with your spouse, he’s not the enemy. Put your strength into fighting the devil. I know that seems hard since we can detect the devil with any of our five senses, but the Bible gives us practical ways to help defend ourselves and our marriage against his attacks. Paul tells us about five pieces of armor that we need to defend ourselves from Satan. The only way to obtain this armor is to be in the word often and be seeking the Lord and His wisdom constantly. Your shield of faith along with the sword of the spirit will help you stand firm against your true enemy, Satan.

Another way that Satan is working against us and our marriage is he temps us with desire. These desires can be physical like having lust of the flesh, or they can be more centered around our ego and pride. To be very honest, Satan doesn’t usually have to dangle that big of a carrot in front of us for us to be tempted. All he has to do is whisper that one little thing that we have been longing to hear. You are so awesome, you will be rich if you do this, you will be beautiful forever if you just….and the list goes on. Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corn 10:3-5) Thankfully we can fight back with the word of God and take our thoughts captive. We don’t have to believe the lies that Satan tells us because we know the truth, God’s truth. As believers in Christ, we have been given divine power to stand against the forces of evil. So stand up to Satan, and stand up for your marriage. Your marriage is worth fighting for and if you don’t think so, Satan certainly does. He wants nothing more than to destroy your marriage but you don’t have to allow that to happen. Fight for your marriage as if your life depended on it.

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