Love and Respect

Hold fast.  Hebrews 10:23-25

 

Hebrews 10:23-25

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

My Comments: Oh, how the verses of respect and love for our loved ones, resonates with me. In July (this was written in 2012 yet is true today as I look back on all the time we were married and learning from each other) the Lord impressed on me that the time was short for me to learn from my beloved the things he was given into my life to help me learn, and I was being slow to learn them.  I started to be more proactive at learning them.   I had already read the book, "Love and Logic" and knew what I needed as a wife, mother and women, to learn in regards to respect. You see women naturally love so they do not need to be told by God to Love. But we often feel we should have someone to respect before we respect. The Lord did not give us an option, He gave us a command. Women respect your husbands (Ephesians 5:33). I had to look at how I treated my husband. I loved him yet did not always show him respect (and s I look back I really had not respect for me in general). I gave respect dependent on how my husband or any man did things. Not what the Lord wanted of me.   After reading Love and Respect, I started watching my mouth. This being the part of me that I did not use to the glorify God when talking to me especially when I was upset with my love. I had plenty of chances to work on the organ the Lord wanted me to improve. As my hubby's illness progressed and he grew sicker the poisons in his body worked on his brain and caused many behaviors and words to come from him that were not the way he really was. They were to be used over the next few months to help me change my hurtful mouth to one with respect. I love how god works to improve us and how we treat others.   Loving him was never a problem for me, but respecting him or any man was because of things that had happened in my life caused by men. I had a problem with respecting any man even my calm easy going soft spoken husband. God used him and his illness to help me to grow and though I wish I had gotten it sooner I am thankful I finally got it and pray I never forget. I am not respecting because they "do" anything to earn it any more than I love all mankind because they "do" anything to deserve being loved my me or the Lord.   This has helped me when interacting with my sons and other men. Please God I will continue to not only love but to respect whoever the Lord puts into my life. Like love, respect is not a feeling it is a choice we make everyday. Like our heavenly Father, we love and like Him we show respect to others because they were created by Him. My lessons come over most of my life yet the ones that truly changed me were the ones I learned being married for 36 years and especially the last five years as my husband went through his time of failing health and pain.   Abba, thank You for Your grace and Your lessons that bring us closer to You. Help us to bring glory and honor to Your Holy Name. I praise You my Lord for giving me the man in my life who would help me to learn the lessons I needed to learn. I pray Abba any lessons that we need to learn You will guide us as we learn them. Father we have not always loved others as ourselves nor have we always shown the respect You would have us women to show to men. Help us to see eachother as You so we will learn to treat everyone in our lives as we would treat You. Let us not be found wanting and may we all finish the race well. In Jesus' precious name in union with the Holy Spirit. Amen Rebishka