Home Improvement

Dear Church Family,

Ahhh....Spring is here and love is in the air. This is the time of year, it seems, when flowers and romance blossom and, for many, love culminates into marriage. We thought it was amusing a couple of months ago when we heard that last year a well-known prophet said that this year (2007) would be a year of weddings. Well, he must have been right, because all we have been doing lately is attending weddings, performing weddings, conducting pre-wedding counseling, and hearing of couples who are engaged and planning their weddings!

Since marriage has been on our minds, we decided to use this blog to discuss the importance of the husband and wife roles in the home. These roles are God-ordained, and when properly fulfilled, cause us to experience "days of heaven upon the earth". (Deut. 11:21)

I (Pastor Rebecca) will begin with encouragement for the wives. Ladies, God has been showing me in the past few months that the most important thing you can do to cause your marriage to flourish is to respect and esteem your husband. In fact, let's look at what the Bible has to say on this very subject: "...let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly.] (Ephesians 5:33-Amplified) I could write a whole teaching, taking each of these words and expounding upon them with definitions, etc. but I trust that you will meditate and receive revelation from the Holy Spirit on your own. Your husband needs your respect-whether he is a non-believer, pew-warmer, or on-fire Christian! When we women stop trying to get our husbands to change (so that they can be how we think they should be) and instead take verses like these and actually obey them on a constistent basis, we will be amazed at how God works in both of our lives! God made men to need support and undergirding from a loving wife, not correction, criticism, or an attitude of disapproval. You have the power to either make or break your man. Use this ability to help him rise up into all that God has for him in life. In doing this, you will find that you receive love, blessing, and promotion yourself.

I (Pastor Jeff) want to speak briefly to the men. Ephesians 5:25 tells us men that we are to love our wives "just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her". First Corinthians 13:5 says that love "does not seek its own". When a man truly becomes interested in loving his wife and seeking how he can be a blessing to her, it will draw his wife toward him. Many times in marriage men and women are fighting for what they want. If they would become interested in what their partner wants instead, they would end up getting what they want in the end. It truly takes both sides to make a great marriage. It takes hard work and it takes an attitude of selflessness (the opposite of selfishness). As my wife stated, we must work at changing ourselves and not be thinking about how we would like our spouse to change. Even if they never change, you will be a better person and will have been obedient to live how God wants you to live. I also believe that if you keep sowing love and positive things toward your spouse you are going to reap good things back. When we truly get a revelation of that our marriages will be what God intended for them to be. God bless each of you and may you experience heaven in your home.

In Christ's love,
Pastors Jeff and Rebecca