Good News October 2017 Broward

GoodNewsFL.org 31 october 2017 MARRIAGE loving Him and loving each other because Christ Jesus commanded them to show His love to each other. They love each other for the sake of Christ Jesus. This is to them the highest good of human life, to follow Jesus Christ. They encourage and sustain each other in answering Jesus’ call by seeking to provide caring and compassionate service to- wards each other for the sake of Christ. They find the power to have such love for each other in abiding in the pres- ence and promises of Christ Jesus. (John 15:1-8) Now this focus on friend- ship as the most important part of a healthy marriage is sup- ported by scientific study as well. John Gottman, a Univer- sity of Washington psychology professor has found through scientific research that "… the simple truth that happy mar- riages are based on deep friendship. By this I mean a mutual respect and enjoy- ment for each other's com- pany.” (The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Coun- try's Foremost Relationship Expert by John Gottman PhD and Nan Silver) So, before you define your spouse as a husband or wife, define them as your spiritual friend given to you as a gift by Christ Jesus. Jesus has asked you to love this person by lay- ing down your life even as Christ laid down His life for you. Fellow disciples Paul encourages this gospel centered lifestyle when he writes: "Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also ac- cepted us to the glory of God” (Romans 15:7). "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender- hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32). Before you love your spouse as a marriage partner, love them as a fellow disciple. Jesus has given the cul- ture around us the right to de- termine if we are his disciples by how we demonstrate His love towards each other in our marriage. They will either see the love of Christ in our rela- tionship or have the right to de- termine that despite our church attendance and activities we don’t really follow Jesus. “The church is to be a lov- ing church in a dying culture. How, then, is the dying culture going to consider us? Jesus says, ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.’ In the midst of the world, in the midst of our present dying cul- ture, Jesus is giving a right to the world. Upon his authority he gives the world the right to judge whether you and I are born-again Christians on the basis of our observable love toward all Christians.(This in- cludes our spouse) ”(Schaef- fer, Francis A.. The Mark of the Christian (IVP Classics) (p. 22). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.} Because of this, let us now aim at becoming spiritual friends with our spouse and making our marriages gospel centered. It will be the best de- cision we could ever make. Dr. NormanWise is theEx- ecutive Director of Living Water Christian Counseling and host of “Ask the Coun- selor”onGraceNetRadio.com. LivingWater canbe reachedat 954-726-2303. :H IHDWXUH ZHOO NQRZQ DQG UHVSHFWHG OHDGHUV RI IDLWK LQ WKH *RRG 1HZV HDFK 0RQWK 7KH *RRG 1HZV ‡ *RRG1HZV)/ RUJ ¹