"The Lord is my strength and my
shield; My heart trust in Him, and I am helped;
therefore my heart exults, And
with my song I shall thank Him" (Psa. 28:7). "Do not be grieved for the joy of the
Lord is your strength" (Neh. 8:10).
Hey Gang: I am a balanced therapy addict! I have refrained from using the word
"therapy" because of the connotations that it surfaces in many minds. I would rather have people look at their
lives from the platform of experience. I
am also an advocate of looking at all of life situations from the standpoint of
a three-point triangle that include Values, Choices and Destinations.
And what do
I mean by balanced. There is no denying
the fact that we are going to run into 'Back-Against-The-Wall, Alligators up to
our armpits, and clinkers in our path on a fairly regular basis. I have come to this conclusion: when we allow the negatives to override the
positives we are going to get clobbered!
I believe,
if all couples who were contemplating marriage were compelled to read Gary
Smalley's book The Language of Love, it would provide a foundation on
which to build a relationship within the marriage. He introduces the concept of a ‘Love Bank’, which we have shared with
many couples. What in the world is
that? It is the same as your checking
account with your local bank only it pertains to human behaviors.
When we do
something good for our mate a deposit in your love bank account and when there
is a disagreement, you make a withdrawl from your love bank account. It is sad that so many couples get into deep
financial problems because they think that must have all the bangle and beads
the world offers. And that same attitude
prevails in many marriages. When the withdrawals exceed the deposits, trouble
is close at hand!
The basics
of the Love Bank or the ‘tie that binds’ is found in Ecclesiastes
9:4-9; the Preacher writes about a strand of three that binds the husband and
the wife and the Holy Spirit together. A
strand of three is so much stronger than a stand of two! And when the two are
not bound through a love bank principle, it is a strand of one plus one and
breaking a strand of one is a piece of cake, especially when there is no Holy
Spirit in the life of that one.
‘Love Bank’ principles are found
throughout the Bible. Jesus was a
constant planter of deposits in all those who loved Him and called Him
Lord. His greatest contribution to your Love Bank was His willingness to lay
down His life that you might be freed from the bondage of sin. He said, "Greater
love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for friends" (John
15:13).
I have heard it said a zillion times that
marriage is a 50 - 50 proposition. To
that I shout "balderdash". First, marriage is not a proposition, it is a
lay down your life commitment: second, it is not 50-50 it is 100% - zip. If you are not willing to lay down you life
for that special person God united you with, go fishing instead of to the altar.
Jesus, "the way, the truth, and the
life" gave us clear instructions in the proper procedures for our Love Bank, He said, "For I was
hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger
and you took me in, naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in
prison and you came to Me." (Matt.
25:35-36). When questioned about doing
these things, Jesus responded, "…to
the extent you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me"
(Vs. 40). Even our spouse and family!
Soooo, Jesus
removed any excuse we might muster for not going into all the world, even our
next door neighbor and when He said, "I
say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for
harvest" (John 4:35) He also said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few" (Matt.
9:37). What say ye? Are you a laborer for Jesus? Is it time to do an accounting on your Love Bank?
BLessings,
Gramps
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