One of the main ways that we are experiencing relationships right now is with those we live with – family, roommates, our pets – and during this time of physical distancing when many of us are with our household 24/7, this can sometimes lead to tension and frustration.
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CRAVING CONNECTION
Message by Joshua Mutter – May 17, 2020
BEING “FOR” ONE ANOTHER – WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
1. Walking in the way of love with our families is not just good for us but can be a way that people see Jesus.
Ephesians 5:21-6:4 NIV
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honour your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
2. Submitting to others is not about being a pushover. It is about being “for” the people that are in our lives.
3. When we each set aside our need to be first and focus on being “for” one another, something beautiful emerges that is life-giving.
4. We live out our commitment to Jesus in how we live in love with others.
APPLICATION
1. To be “for” our family is to sacrifice ourselves
2. We love our families well when we allow Jesus to flavour our interactions
3. Loving our families is an antidote to power struggles and bitterness
NEXT STEPS
- Be thankful
- Ask for God’s help
- Do something now
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