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First of all, it’s important to acknowledge the fact that we can’t do anything of ourselves. The Bible says: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." (Jeremiah 13:23)Our Creator is the one who can make the changes. God made a covenant with those who have accepted Him through Jesus Christ. Here is what He said: "’This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’" (Jeremiah 31:33)and "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:25-27)In 1 John 4:8 we are told that "God is love". The kind of love that God represents is not the emotional or eros love, or the affection of storge (family) love, or the friendship of philia love, or the humanitarian philanthropic love. It is actually a combination of all the above. It is called agape or unconditional love. It is the love that accepts you and me where we are and how we are, but cares enough to not leave us there. No loving Creator would leave us wallowing in our old habit patterns. He sets about to make changes in us in loving but very definite ways as we cooperate.
If we go to God, amazing things will happen. As a believer draws closer to God, esteeming his/her spouse more important than self (especially during times of conflict), they will draw closer to each other. (See John 14:6; Philippians 2:1-5; Hebrews 4:14-16)
The Bible says:
God’s LOVE principle, which is universal, eternal and heavenly…is the MASTER PRINCIPLE. It would include aspects such as:
All of these embody LOVE in its truest form!
Let's go to the last link and discover ways of implementing God's plan. |
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Often these changes can only be made after we see the necessity for
that change. As we experience difficult situations in the marriage
relationship, there is a recognition of the need for "outside"
help. This help is available in two areas:
In the following diagram you will see that the world’s way is to
focus on each other to fix the situation. This will achieve a temporary
change, but the husband and wife are still in their same position. It is
only when the heart is changed and cleansed of jealousy, envy, pride,
selfishness, rebelliousness, denial, etc. that real change
takes place. Now the position of the husband and wife has changed. They
are focusing on God and consequently are coming closer together spiritually,
physically and emotionally. This can only be accomplished
through God’s Spirit within the heart and mind.
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