Category Archives: Love

God’s Text on Sex

HusbandWife2In a marital relationship, both you and your spouse must communicate. I have seen too many times in counseling where one spouse refuses or withholds sex from their mate. If you are in this situation, ask yourself how you may be responsible. Guys, sex is not just for your pleasure. Ladies, you need to communicate clearly to your spouse when something is not pleasurable or not going well with your husband. God desires to give you pleasure and He desires that you be a pleasure to one another. Discuss with one another what brings pleasure and what does not. If something is not going well, please, please talk to your spouse without undermining their confidence.

It is not Biblical to deprive your spouse of sex. You should never be selfish in any way with your spouse, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. At times, it may be a sacrifice or an unselfish thing you do to have a physical relationship. Maybe you do it in spite of being tired, having a headache, etc. etc. A sexual problem is often a symptom of a bigger problem, which is selfishness. As Christians, should not be selfish in our lives or in our physical relationships. You entered into a covenant with your spouse and your body is no longer yours according to 1st Corinthians 7:4.

Just as Jesus Christ died for you, so should you and your spouse should die to selfishness. Not just sexually but in all ways. You should please your spouse and submit to one another’s likes as long as it is not contrary to the Word of God. Your nature is to be self-centered, but Jesus wants you to be others-centered. Friend, consider one another.

Take time with your spouse and communicate your likes and dislikes with one another. Friend, by considering one another, I will promise you that your marriage will be better than you have imagined, your spouse will be blessed and God will bless you.

Life Lesson: If you are married, you should be having sex or making love on a regular basis.

David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form here.

Keep the Faith, Baby

Know Like Trust - Have Faith In God

They call it “The KLT Factor.”

When you Know, Like and Trust a person or a company, you’re likely to have faith in them and continue to build the relationship with them.

Faith can be a hard leap for many. Some have been jaded by misplaced trust and therefore have a hard time believing anyone, even God. While this may be a problem, the more challenging issue is misplaced faith. We all have faith in something. Our faith may be placed in ourselves, whether because of our wealth or authority, or it could be placed in someone or something completely different. Either way, faith that is not placed in Jesus Christ alone will only lead to ruin.

In Second Timothy, the Apostle Paul warns his young disciple of a time that would come where men would trust in their own self. Their misplaced faith would lead to a world filled with pride, anger, hatred and irreverence for the things of God. Paul concludes with the warning, “Stay away from them.” As Christians, we must be guided by our faith and trust in Christ. He is our Savior and King, and His Word alone is our guide into eternal life. When we trust in His Word, we will find a life that is filled with love, grace and forgiveness. This love has the power to change the world, but this love is only available to us when we trust in the One who is ultimate love, Jesus Christ.

Life Lesson: What we choose to put our faith in will ultimately guide our decision making, our perspective and the course of action for our lives.

Given enough time and situations, any one human has the potential to let you down. God is the only one that has earned and deserves your complete attention, love and trust.

David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form here.

Just Religious Noise

Religious Noise - An Autoimmune Disorder - Unity NeededIt could start with fatigue, fever, weakness, distraction, depression. You don’t really know what exactly the problem is, but you just know that something’s not working right inside. Chaos occurs when your body decides to attack itself in an autoimmune disorder. Your body parts aren’t acting in unity.

What if you could actually see it happening? Let’s say your arm was mad at your foot for not saying, “Hi” in the hallway, or your liver decided to quit simply because it was jealous of the mouth? While it may seem ridiculous to imagine, this sad scenario occurs every week in churches all over the world. The Church – the body of Christ, formed to demonstrate the love and forgiveness of Jesus, turns on itself out of selfishness and pride. It shouldn’t be this way. In one of the most beloved passages in the Bible, Paul writes…

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” (from First Corinthians, chapter 13)

The whole chapter is dedicated to promoting love as the ultimate spiritual fruit. Do you understand great mysteries? Great, but do you love? Are you able to speak with tongues of angels? Awesome, but do you love? You see, no matter what gift we are given, if we are not acting in love towards one another, we are nothing more than religious noise. Instead of useless noise, let’s sing out a sweet song of forgiveness and love. That is a tune sure to change the world.

 Life Lesson: No matter how gifted we are or what our giftings are, if we don’t have love, we are just religious noise.

Autoimmune disorders in our physical bodies are temporary. Real love for one another is forever.

David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form here.

What a Difference Words Make!

DifferencesThe bride-to-be was depressed just days before her wedding because of her appearance. She looked different from the other girls.

What can cause someone to change their view of themselves? Could it be as simple as kind words of affection? Let’s look at the case of Solomon and his bride to be. First, we find a woman depressed about her appearance. She is concerned about because she worked in the vineyards, under the hot sun, and was unable to care for herself. But pretty soon, she calls herself a “rose of Sharon” – a beautiful and highly valued flowering plant. What a change of perspective! All because Solomon spoke loving words of affection and encouragement to her. This shouldn’t surprise us since the Bible tells us that words are powerful.

In the book of James, it says, “In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.”

The power of our words is unbelievable. Many times we forget that and hurt with our words rather than heal. God desires that we all walk with grace, humility and love for one another. We should look for opportunities to lift one another up with our words. Speak words of gratitude, of thanksgiving and of grace to one another. Husbands, speak affectionately to your wife. Wives, speak encouragement to your husbands. In this circle of loving words and affection, you will find a healthy, growing relationship. Our words are powerful so let’s use them wisely.

Life Lesson: Words are powerful tools that can be used to build people up or tear people down.

Thousands of years later, the story of this depressed fiancé still inspires us to spread kind words.

David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form here.

Two People – One Mind?

Dee’s family openly aired their disagreements. Jerome’s family did their best to avoid conflict. When they got married, you can imagine how that worked out.

 Let’s be honest, relationships are tough. Whether it’s your family or a friendship, every relationship takes time and effort in order to work. The same is true for the church. The body of Christ is made up of people of different backgrounds, personalities and experiences. We each bring something unique to the table and then we are commanded to love each other. How does that work? Won’t our differences cause arguments and division? They can, unless we all start from the same point – Jesus Christ.

In 1 Peter 3, the church is told to be of ‘one mind’. We are all supposed to lay aside our own thoughts and attitudes for the thoughts and attitudes of Jesus. How do we do this? We jump into God’s Word and in the process; our minds are transformed more and more into the mind of Christ. As we grow, we begin learning how to love, forgive, show compassion and have mercy. When we start with a desire to be like Christ, we end up united with our brothers and sisters who are doing the same. So today, if there is tension in a relationship, look to the Bible and begin loving like Jesus.

Life Lesson: Unity in church starts with each person submitting to God’s Word.

You’ll be happy to know that Dee and Jerome just celebrated their 30th year of marriage.

David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form below.

 




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Column #14-0304 (Life Lesson based on 1 Peter 3:8 teaching)