Posts Tagged ‘Bible’

Is moral licensing hurting your marriage?

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Interesting story here about human nature and something called "moral licensing".  In short, the idea is that doing things seen as good results in folks being more likely to do things that are “bad”. It's sort of like a bank account - the more "good credit" you have amassed, the less you worry about spending some of that in the form of being rude, dishonest, or apathetic.

I wonder if this partly explains the people who are seen as moral, just, friendly and all around great people at work, but are none of those things at home. Or those folks who are known as fantastic missionaries overseas, but their families just want them to go back overseas?

As much of this is not conscious, you will need to examine yourself carefully to see if you are guilty. Also, remember that the Bible says we must start by being good and loving to those closest to us - only then are we qualified to minster to others.

Thinking that will cripple your marriage

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Seth Godin has a great post about The problem with cable news thinking .  Seth ends with, "If I wanted to hobble an organization or even a country, I'd wish these twelve traits on them." I think we could add "a marriage" to that list, so I'm going to apply most of his bullet points to marriage.

  • Focus on the urgent instead of the important: If you feel you live in a constant state of crisis, odds are you are missing what is really important. It's amazing what percentage of "urgent" things you can ignore for a few hours, or days, of forever, without disaster striking.  OTOH, if you are all about the urgent, the chance of disaster is significant.
  • Vivid emotions ... as a selector for what's important: Feelings are good tools, but horrible masters. It's a difficult balance, especially given the differences in men and women, but strong emotions alone should never dictate what happens - or if something happens.
  • Emphasis on noise over thoughtful analysis: You only grow by understanding - understanding yourself, your bride, and what goes right and wrong in your relationship. Regardless of how much you hear about something from your bride, you need to put some private time into thinking through it.
  • Unwillingness to reverse course and change one's mind: This includes, but is not limited to, admitting when you are wrong. Those who can change direction have a much better chance of success in everything - including marriage.
  • Defense of the status quo encouraged by an audience self-selected to be uniform: Asking your friends, who you know agree with you, if you did right or wrong is a waste of time and energy.  If things are not working well, you need to make changes, and you won't be encouraged to do that by folks who agree with all the thinking that got you to where you are.
  • Things become important merely because others have decided they are important: Far too many couples are doing things neither of them enjoys because some friend, book, pastor, or counsellor says that is the way to do it.  There is often more than one good/right way to do things, and sometimes a lot more than one way.  We are not one-size-fits-all people, and our marriages are certainly not one-size-fits-all.  What works for others might be good for you, or not so good, or very bad.
  • Confusing opinion with the truth: Yes, I know you are far smarter than your bride is, and your opinion should be accepted as truth without question. Get over yourself!
  • Revising facts to fit a point of view: Don't abuse facts to make them support what you want the truth to be.  This is especially true for the Bible, IMHO.
  • Unwillingness to review past mistakes in light of history and use those to do better next time: Those who do not learn from their marriage mistakes are doomed to repeat them.  Mistakes are a valuable tool to understanding your bride and your relationship - don't throw away that resource!

Your minstry – yes you.

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Are you "in ministry"? As I read the Bible, all those who follow Jesus are to be ministering in some way or another.  Not all are doing ministry full time, or reviving money for what they do, but we are all called to do something. What that looks like goes well beyond what we have traditionally thought of as "ministry".  For example:

  • Mowing the lawn for the widow or single mother next door.
  • Teaching people to read at a local literary centre.
  • Helping the elderly couple down the block with home repairs they can't do and can't afford to pay someone to do.
  • Praying daily for individuals or groups.
  • Watching the kids of a young couple who can't afford both a babysitter and a meal and movie.
  • Spending a couple weeks a year in Mexico doing building for an orphanage.
  • Opening your home to a support group, prayer meeting, or Bible study.

Talk with your bride about what each of you does as ministry, and what each of you would like to do.

Coming Out Day

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Just a warning - this is more of a rant than I usually do here.

Last Sunday (or Monday depending on your location) was "Coming out Day" -  a day for homosexuals to "come out of the closet". This is accompanied by all manner of ranting by various folks about how homosexual couples are destroying the sanctity of marriage.

My personal opinion is that the sanctity of marriage is being destroyed not by those who don't believe in it, or those who want to redefine it, but by those who claim to be living it and defending it. What destroys marriage in the eyes of society is Christians - real or self proclaimed - who commit adultery, divorce for boredom, or accept an empty lifeless imitation of marriage. Those who do these things, and those who turn a blind eye to those who do these things, do far more harm to what God intended marriage to be than the unsaved could ever do.

So, for those who want to uphold the sanctity of marriage, I offer a couple of suggestions that I think will do far more good than any protest or law:

1. Live your marriage to the fullest, enjoying it and doing all you can to bless your bride to the fullest. And, do this openly and publicly. Come "out of the closet" and let the world know that you are madly in love with each other, and in appropriate ways, let the world know you are very happy sexually.

2. Don't turn a blind eye to other followers of Jesus who are having marital problems, or living in sexual sin. The truth is we are our brother's keeper, and if we don't help, support, and when needed correct each other, we will all fail.

On the second point - one of the things that has deeply harmed both marriage and the ability of the church to connect with society is the many public divorces, adultery and other sins of well know Christian leaders. This parade of hypocrisy makes it easy for anyone to dismiss all Christians, and the effort by other Christians to defend these fallen folks just makes it worse. Most of the "big name Christian in big sin" stories could have been dealt with sooner and in a much more biblical way - it is rare for something like this to be unknown, there is almost always someone who knows and is either ignoring it, or worse, helping to keep it hidden as it goes on and on. The excuses for this vary, but the bottom line is usually pretty basic - those who refuse to properly deal with the sin are benefiting from the sinner in some way. In a world where everyone covers up for their own, and defends their own no matter how wrong they are, how would society look at Christians if we followed the Bible and dealt with our own? Might we be more respected if we followed what we preach, and refused to allow our own to get away with doing what they tell others is sin?

Do not be lead astray

Monday, October 5th, 2009

This is a bit of a follow up on yesterday's tip.

In the book of Exodus, God warns what will happen if the people get too friendly with folk who worship other gods.  These things include:

"and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods." [Ex 34:16 NKJV]

There are a a number of places in the Bible where this warning was not followed.  One example is:

For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.  For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.  Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David.  Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.  And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. [1 Kings 11:4-8 NKJV]

The wisest man was brought down because he followed his wives wrong spiritual directions. If Solomon and other great men of the Bible could be lead astray, then so can we - and we must be on our guard. And no, this is not something that is no longer an issue since Jesus came - I have seen ordained men lead astray by their wife's wrong spiritual ideas.

I realise this is not something any of us want to think about. If we have to deal with it, we already have the problem of our bride having move away from the truth of God. But in addition to guarding yourself, being aware of any problem quickly will improve your chances of helping your bride avoid going off into something she should not.

So, stay strong yourself, and pray for your wife and your kids spiritual walks. Be aware of what is going on with your family members, ask questions if something seems odd, and speak up in love if something is off.

Does your marriage evangelise?

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

How does how you treat your bride reflect on your Lord? Does your love for her show in a way that makes those around you take notice? If our love for one another is the hallmark of being followers of the Lord Jesus, then does it not follow that our love for our spouse would be a prime example of that?

If all those of us who call ourselves Christians loved our spouses in a deep, real, vibrant and obvious way, imagine what that would do to the world. Imagine if it was undeniable that those who follow Jesus were more in love, more happily married, more sexually satisfied, and just had better marriages all around. In a world full of divorce and troubled marriages, such a "testimony" would show people that faith in Jesus is more than just a claim - it would show that following Him actually changes people.

On the other side of it, if your marriage does not "evangelise" in this way, may I gently suggest that this is a very bad reflection on our Lord? Forget about all the other things you are doing "for Him" and concentrate on the one flesh relationship that should be showing the world what it means to follow Jesus.

And yes, I know you are half of your marriage, and you can't do certain things  because of her choices, fears, imposed limitations, problems and so on. But the reality is the vast majority of marriages can be significantly changed by the actions of either spouse acting alone. There are very, very few men and women who will not respond to long term selfless love. I do know a few situations where is seems the wife or husband refused to change even after an extremal effort by their spouse, but this is the very rare exception.

What do YOU see?

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

© Soupstock | Dreamstime.comI am amazed at the way several individuals can read the same scripture and see a variety of truths. Why not see how much you can learn through your bride's understanding of the Bible, and what she can learn through yours? Pick a verse or passage, and each share what it says to you.

Repeat regularly for more insight and blessing.


Second hand doctrinal failure

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

© Elenaray | Dreamstime.comStudies have shown that what we think and believe influencers those around us far more than we know. This is true even for casual acquaintances, so imagine how significant the affect is between husband and wife.

If your theology is off, or becomes a bit off, there is a chance your bride will follow you into error. While she is certainly going to be held responsible for her choice, don’t you think you will be held responsible for putting a wrong choice before her?

The other side of this is that we tend to be influenced by our bride - regardless of what she does or moves into. The Bible and history are full of men who got pulled off track by something their wife started to believe or follow - sometimes with sad and painful consequences. The reason this happens is easy to understand, we don’t want to be at odds with our bride. We don’t want to be on opposite sides of a theological divide, and that makes us willing to compromise, or to pretend something is not as significant as it really is. Our desire for peace in our home can easily lead us away from truth, and we must be vigilant and determined to avoid this.

Question - are you proactive or reactive about your faith?

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