So, this is pretty self explanatory, I'm going to talk about gifts. It's currently just after 1am on a Thursday night, and my mind is hyper active again. That's not the topic of this writing, although possibly a gift depending on how you view it.This will ring close to my challenge to singles post a few months ago,if you haven't read it click here
Anyways, gifts.
This started as a conversation in my head thinking about a friend of mine, and all the hardship she's endured because of men. There are a lot of men out there who solely want to use and then dump a girl, which makes me sick. I find it hard to some times refer to them as men even, but I'm not here to condem, and I ask God grant me the grace to forgive these men. Having largely female friends I see this a lot, "I know he'll change, I love him, it will work, I can make it work". If going into it he's set in sometihng, he's set in it, to make a story short. There are guys out there who simply want to get a girl in bed, he'll buy her gifts; shallow gifts, materialistic gifts; to make it seem like he cares. But in the end, he only wants one thing. The gifts should be that of authenticity, love, respect, trust, honour, and the like. If you're not getting those gifts, don't accept the material ones, those are inconsequential. A man who treats a woman sub-par to himself, is not a man, but a boy. It's even worse when a Christian man has this attitude, as the bible clearly tells us in Ephesians, that husbands need to love their wives as Christ loves the Church. That's a tall order, so that'll start seperating the boys from the men. I myself am not married, and personally, I don't feel I'm at a place yet, where I'm ready for that step.
But, moving to another gift, women. Now before I get feminists going we are not objects, so on and so forth I want to clear this up. You don't have a gift before a person, you have a person then a gift. God made man, and then, gifted him with a wife. Because God saw it was not good for man to be alone. Women are a gift from God, not the other way around like some men think. As such, women are deserving of that admiration, appreciation, respect, and dignity, anything less, shouldn't stand.
Going back to the earlier statement, Christ loving the church, I just want to touch on this quickly with Easter on the way very soon. God sent His son to die for us, so we could have everlasting life, and not perish in Hell. Thus, we would be able to have a fulfilling relationship with our heavenly father. What greater gift, than to lay down ones life for the ones they love? Now I ask you all this, are you willing to lay down your life for your friends and family, and most importantly, your spouse? I hope so.
For those that are fans of Mark Driscoll, or even if you've never heard of him. He issues some similar challenges, Mark Driscoll Youtube Clip
Full Sermon and More from Mark's Ministry Mars Hill
My Ministry
Prairie Harvest Ministry Facebook Page
