Spouses Connecting and Supporting Other Spouses

Matthew 5:33-37 33 "Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.' 34 "But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. 36 "Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.

Question: Do you find yourself having to solidify your promises by swearing to the truth? By 'pinky-swearing' or giving the Girl Scout's honor?

Answer: No I do not make promises by swearing on anything.

Let your 'yes' be 'yes'. Do you make promises that you are unable to keep?

Answer: I used to make promises very lightly, I didn't swear by anything, but I did make promises without sufficient thought. Now that I have seen the effects of broken promises on myself and others, I am very careful before promising anything. I want to be sure it is the right thing to promise and that I will be able to fulfill that promise.

Before you say 'yes' to something think about what you are promising and be honest with yourself and the person receiving the promises.

Love

Matthew 5:43-48 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Question: Do you love everyone?
What about your mother-in-law? You co-worker that insists on taking all the glory for projects that you've worked on together? Or what about the kid on the playground that always seems to have a problem with your kid? How do you feel towards his parents?

Answer: I cannot honestly say that I love everyone. I do try to remember that God loves each and every person, just like He loves me. I am working on remembering that each time I deal with a difficult person or one who I just don't get along with. If Jesus could pray on the cross for those who were persecuting Him, the lease I can do is to try my best to love the people He died for.

The point is we are human and there's always someone that gets under our skin from time to time. Our hatred of them or of their actions gets in the way of our loving them and showing them that there really and truly are good people in this world that don't react to their every bad mood or negative behavior. A lot of times we'd probably feel that we're being stepped on if we even give them the time of day. But, what does God say about our love for our enemies? That we need to show ourselves as his sons and daughters by forgiving and treating them the same as we would someone that we love. God showers sunlight on the righteous AND the unrighteous. Next time you find someone you don't like go out of your way to do something nice for them. Just see how it changes things. This leads into the next verse.

Friendship

Matthew 5:38-42 38 "You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' 39 "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 7:1-6 1 "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 "Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 6 "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Question: Have you ever done something nice for someone that was mean to you? Now, I don't mean a sibling, husband, mother, father, or any of those people. I mean someone who really seemed to not like you. Have you?

Answer: Yes I have. I worked for many years in the ICU of our local hospital. There was a physician there who seemed not to like me, I was never sure of the reason. But I did go out of my way to be nice and accommodating to him whenever he was on the unit. It did not make any difference in the way he treated me, but I felt better about being nice and not fighting with him. Also, others who worked there noticed this behavior and it was an opportunity to live out my faith.

Not only is this first passage talking about giving extra to those who are demanding of you, but it's also saying to give to those that wish to borrow from you. We have to remember that our worldly possesions are not ours, but we are only borrowing them. God gives us what we need, so should someone borrow from you and it's not returned to you God will still take care of you, right? When I first became a disciple I didn't have a car. My good friend who studied the Bible with me had a car and on ocassion I'd had to borrow it. She never batted an eye. How many people will let you borrow your car??? Not many.

Question: Do you see yourself as a critical person?

Answer: Unfortunately I can be critical.

In my church we had a preacher that was accused of not being financially responsible with money that he received from the church members. He was accused of living in a neighborhood that was on a richer scale then many of the church members. Rumors began to fly and everyone got themselves all worked up for months. Financial records were brought before the church and much accounting for took place. During this time many people left the church. Some not only left the church, but left God altogether. Many of these people were ones that were not exactly spiritually stable or fruitful, for that matter. Some were, but gave into the doubt. When this happened they began to focus on outward appearances of others and not on their own spiritual righteousness with God.

In truth, what happened? The preacher and his family were renting in one area and found a house in another area that is considered to be where the rich live, and purchased it for a more inexpensive price then the one that they had been renting before. Did I make sense? *smile* I hope so.

We cannot forsake our righteousness with God to inspect the sin of others. We have to look at and change our faults. Yes, I believe the only way for others to receive constructive critizism is from those around them, but it shouldn't be to the point that their lives are being scrutinized like that of the celebrities. Sometimes I do that to my husband when he leaves the bathroom sink a mess. I make a big deal and all along I've left several other messes in other places. *smile* The insanity!

Prayer Focus For the next two weeks let our prayers focus on how we treat other people. People that we see everyday and people that we're meeting for the first time. Even the people that are cutting us off on the road. Let's pray about treating these people with the love that God is calling us to give to them. And pray that we'll focus on our relationships with God and not the sin of others.