#5
Love is...
... always assuming the best about your spouse's intentions no matter how bad they appear to be and graciously (as in, not accusingly) asking (as in, not telling) him what he meant by what he did. You just might be surprised.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Woman-Liberating Love, Part 1
Love is...
... woman liberating.
Possibly the first recorded acts of women's lib occur in the Old Testament. I know that sounds shocking because we read the laws in Leviticus and elsewhere and think about how awful it must have been for women in that day. But it is the height of modern arrogance for us to think we could even begin to understand what it was like to live in those times and then to chastise God for the way He chose to deal with women.
Our problem is we're coming at it from the wrong perspective. Sure, from a 21st-century point of view, those laws sound awful. What modern-day woman would want to have lived in those days? But if we think about it from the perspective of where those women were coming from, we get a completely different take on it.
In that time, other cultures did not have laws which protected women. Women could be tossed out on the street like garbage. They could be used by men and no one had to do anything about it because women were worse than second-class citizens. A man did not have to be faithful to his wife and he could get rid of her whenever he wished. If a woman was a virgin and she was raped, no man would have married her and her parents might have disowned her. If she got pregnant as a result of the rape, no one was required to help her or her baby. No one would have provided for her. There were no protections for her whatsoever.
But then, God looked down on the women of Israel with love and compassion, and came to Moses to give the Hebrews laws which required men to be faithful to their wives and to provide for them. If any man did not provide for his wife, he would have been punished. It was a shame to him.
If an unmarried woman was raped, the offender had to at least offer to marry her or be punished. This sounds terrible to our 21-century ears. What woman would want to marry the man who raped her?! Not only that, but shouldn't he be punished?! But let me reiterate. Those women were coming from a completely different perspective than we are. The reason for this law was because no one would have wanted to marry her and she would have no one to provide for her and take care of her. And forget it if the rape had resulted in pregnancy! But because of God's love for the women of His people, He refused to allow those atrocities to take place any longer.
Can you see now how these things were a protection for women? There was no other recourse for them. And pagan cultures certainly didn't have laws which required men to take care of women and provide for them. Contrary to the lies we've been taught in our day, the Mosaic laws were revolutionary for women... in a very good way.
Love is woman-liberating.
... woman liberating.
Possibly the first recorded acts of women's lib occur in the Old Testament. I know that sounds shocking because we read the laws in Leviticus and elsewhere and think about how awful it must have been for women in that day. But it is the height of modern arrogance for us to think we could even begin to understand what it was like to live in those times and then to chastise God for the way He chose to deal with women.
Our problem is we're coming at it from the wrong perspective. Sure, from a 21st-century point of view, those laws sound awful. What modern-day woman would want to have lived in those days? But if we think about it from the perspective of where those women were coming from, we get a completely different take on it.
In that time, other cultures did not have laws which protected women. Women could be tossed out on the street like garbage. They could be used by men and no one had to do anything about it because women were worse than second-class citizens. A man did not have to be faithful to his wife and he could get rid of her whenever he wished. If a woman was a virgin and she was raped, no man would have married her and her parents might have disowned her. If she got pregnant as a result of the rape, no one was required to help her or her baby. No one would have provided for her. There were no protections for her whatsoever.
But then, God looked down on the women of Israel with love and compassion, and came to Moses to give the Hebrews laws which required men to be faithful to their wives and to provide for them. If any man did not provide for his wife, he would have been punished. It was a shame to him.
If an unmarried woman was raped, the offender had to at least offer to marry her or be punished. This sounds terrible to our 21-century ears. What woman would want to marry the man who raped her?! Not only that, but shouldn't he be punished?! But let me reiterate. Those women were coming from a completely different perspective than we are. The reason for this law was because no one would have wanted to marry her and she would have no one to provide for her and take care of her. And forget it if the rape had resulted in pregnancy! But because of God's love for the women of His people, He refused to allow those atrocities to take place any longer.
Can you see now how these things were a protection for women? There was no other recourse for them. And pagan cultures certainly didn't have laws which required men to take care of women and provide for them. Contrary to the lies we've been taught in our day, the Mosaic laws were revolutionary for women... in a very good way.
Love is woman-liberating.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Can I Get a Little Credit Here?!
#4
Love is...
... willingly taking the one piece of toast that you accidentally burnt, or the smallest piece of chicken even though it isn't really enough, or the soggiest salad that, to be honest, grosses you out, or the dregs in the potato chip bag that really don't qualify as chips, all so that the rest of your family can have the good stuff... and all without complaining or saying a thing.
Love is...
... willingly taking the one piece of toast that you accidentally burnt, or the smallest piece of chicken even though it isn't really enough, or the soggiest salad that, to be honest, grosses you out, or the dregs in the potato chip bag that really don't qualify as chips, all so that the rest of your family can have the good stuff... and all without complaining or saying a thing.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Bone-Breaking Love
Love is...
... bone-breaking
If you have ever experienced pain or suffering, the link above is for you. I couldn't have said it better.
... bone-breaking
If you have ever experienced pain or suffering, the link above is for you. I couldn't have said it better.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
But It's SO Annoying!
#3
Love is...
... when you almost trip over your husband's shoes because they are in the middle of the floor... again, and he didn't clean up the coffee that spilled on the counter... again, and his dirty clothes are right next to the hamper... again, and all of this is piling on top of other things you're irritated about, so you feel like you're going to blow your top, but instead of nagging him about it, you pray for grace to remember that you do things that bother him, too (and isn't he just a little more gracious about it than you are?), and you thank God for all the wonderful, selfless things he does do, like work hard all. day. long., and help with the kids, and take out the trash, and mow the lawn, and auto maintenance... and then you surprise him by making his favorite supper, "Just because."
Love is...
... when you almost trip over your husband's shoes because they are in the middle of the floor... again, and he didn't clean up the coffee that spilled on the counter... again, and his dirty clothes are right next to the hamper... again, and all of this is piling on top of other things you're irritated about, so you feel like you're going to blow your top, but instead of nagging him about it, you pray for grace to remember that you do things that bother him, too (and isn't he just a little more gracious about it than you are?), and you thank God for all the wonderful, selfless things he does do, like work hard all. day. long., and help with the kids, and take out the trash, and mow the lawn, and auto maintenance... and then you surprise him by making his favorite supper, "Just because."
Monday, October 4, 2010
Violence to End All Violence
Love is...
... Christ, who left perfect, joyful paradise to become a helpless baby born in a filthy, stinking barn, in order to live a flawlessly obedient life in a foul, heartache-filled world. And why? To save and liberate a people who did not know they needed saving, and even if they did, did not want His type of liberation. Yes, He came to preach and teach, to reign and to judge, but just as importantly, He came to be rejected, despised, and executed by His own family, His own people, His own home, His own government, and ultimately, His. own. Father.
His own Father?!
Yes. God the Father is perfectly blameless and just and, therefore, must punish all who do not live up to His perfect standard of law. But Christ, who was completely innocent, stood in His people's place before the Just Judge and said, "I will take the blame for the tremendous failings and disobedience of My people. I will become the wretched filth with which they have filled the earth. And I will suffer the punishment that they deserve so that, when they turn to me in sorrow over their disobedience and believe that what I have done is their only hope, they may have a home in paradise with Me."
People often speak of our sin crucifying Christ and God turning His back on His Son while we tortured and killed Him, but only half of that is true. While it is true that He was crucified because of our sin, it was Christ's own Father who raged against Him in full force, not at all turning His back on Him, but facing Him head on and throwing every bit of His wrath and judgment at Him. What it looked like was this: He was stripped down to nakedness, spit on, beaten to a pulp, whipped with leather straps that had sharp bits of bone and metal on the ends of them, his skin was torn off, his muscles and bones were exposed, all to the point of being completely unrecognizable even to those who were closest to Him. He was made to carry His own unbelievably heavy cross to the crucifixion site, and was made fun of and spit on some more by the crowd who came to be entertained by all of this. And finally, long spikes were driven through His wrists and feet into His cross. Hanging there, in misery we can't even begin to understand, He died. And this only describes what could observed. Who can imagine what other internal anguish He experienced?
This was the Father's wrath against His Son because of what He had chosen to become. This was the final violence for God's people.
All of this to save a people who cannot and do not deserve God's mercy.
Christ is perfectly self-sacrificing. Christ. is. Love.
... Christ, who left perfect, joyful paradise to become a helpless baby born in a filthy, stinking barn, in order to live a flawlessly obedient life in a foul, heartache-filled world. And why? To save and liberate a people who did not know they needed saving, and even if they did, did not want His type of liberation. Yes, He came to preach and teach, to reign and to judge, but just as importantly, He came to be rejected, despised, and executed by His own family, His own people, His own home, His own government, and ultimately, His. own. Father.
His own Father?!
Yes. God the Father is perfectly blameless and just and, therefore, must punish all who do not live up to His perfect standard of law. But Christ, who was completely innocent, stood in His people's place before the Just Judge and said, "I will take the blame for the tremendous failings and disobedience of My people. I will become the wretched filth with which they have filled the earth. And I will suffer the punishment that they deserve so that, when they turn to me in sorrow over their disobedience and believe that what I have done is their only hope, they may have a home in paradise with Me."
People often speak of our sin crucifying Christ and God turning His back on His Son while we tortured and killed Him, but only half of that is true. While it is true that He was crucified because of our sin, it was Christ's own Father who raged against Him in full force, not at all turning His back on Him, but facing Him head on and throwing every bit of His wrath and judgment at Him. What it looked like was this: He was stripped down to nakedness, spit on, beaten to a pulp, whipped with leather straps that had sharp bits of bone and metal on the ends of them, his skin was torn off, his muscles and bones were exposed, all to the point of being completely unrecognizable even to those who were closest to Him. He was made to carry His own unbelievably heavy cross to the crucifixion site, and was made fun of and spit on some more by the crowd who came to be entertained by all of this. And finally, long spikes were driven through His wrists and feet into His cross. Hanging there, in misery we can't even begin to understand, He died. And this only describes what could observed. Who can imagine what other internal anguish He experienced?
This was the Father's wrath against His Son because of what He had chosen to become. This was the final violence for God's people.
All of this to save a people who cannot and do not deserve God's mercy.
Christ is perfectly self-sacrificing. Christ. is. Love.
Friday, October 1, 2010
But I'M the One Who Needs a Break!
#2
Love is...
... when you're at the end of a long, hard day and you're on the verge of tears because nothing seemed to go right, the children were especially difficult, (and you weren't such a sweet rose yourself), and you can't wait until your husband gets home from work so you can tell him all about it, not to mention get a little help and relief (but he's running late - who does he think he is, anyway?! He gets to have adult conversations all day!), but then, when he finally walks in the door, he has that downcast, exhausted, dejected, look on his face that says, "I've had a horrible day," and you bite your tongue, ask the Lord for grace, wrap your arms around your husband, and say, "Why don't you put your feet up, Honey. I'll get you something to drink."
Love is...
... when you're at the end of a long, hard day and you're on the verge of tears because nothing seemed to go right, the children were especially difficult, (and you weren't such a sweet rose yourself), and you can't wait until your husband gets home from work so you can tell him all about it, not to mention get a little help and relief (but he's running late - who does he think he is, anyway?! He gets to have adult conversations all day!), but then, when he finally walks in the door, he has that downcast, exhausted, dejected, look on his face that says, "I've had a horrible day," and you bite your tongue, ask the Lord for grace, wrap your arms around your husband, and say, "Why don't you put your feet up, Honey. I'll get you something to drink."
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