I have had the privelge of teaching school agers this week. To be honest it is not my favorite place to teach, but today was a good day. Prayer helps a lot and God does answer prayers. I specifically prayed today for a good, fun day with my friends and I asked for His extreme wisdom. God answered that prayer today.
The school agers love to play foos ball. They usually play well on their own. I have the rule that they can play it as long as they don't fight. They usually argue a bit here and there, which is normal, but they should not get me involved. I learned with our two children that I do NOT want to be a referee nor should I be put in that position.
Today I was approached by 3 boys and asked to resolve a dispute they had over a foos ball game. These three boys have been friends for years. Two of them grew up in the center I work in; starting in the two year old room and they are now in the second grade. The other boy became part of their friendship over 3 years ago. They are well behaved boys, but they are boys and they are competitive.
When they came up to me and wanted me to resolve their dispute, my first thoughts were 'I really don't want to hear this'. As they were passionately setting forth their case I finally stopped them. I was about to remind them of my rule, but then a wise thought came to my mind (obviously not from me). I looked at the three of them and I said "Which is more important, the foos ball game or your friendship?" They looked at me and then at each other and they all three said their friendship and walked away. They went off and played with legos. They were happy, and there was no question in their minds about what was more important.
As an adult sometimes I need to be reminded of this too. Sometimes I get too concerned about being right, or doing something the right way and miss the big picture of what truly is important.
Proverbs 17:14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Sex Before Marriage??
I was listening to Chuck Swindoll today. He was talking about sex and what a gift it is in marriage. Sex is designed by God and to be enjoyed by married people. It goes beyond just the physical and practical it goes to the emotional and spiritual.
Today's society says that sex is just the physical and is a natural need. You deserve to have sex and if you are not married, but are committed then it is fine. You can try each other out and see if you are compatable. If you use a condom you will be safe from diseases, unwanted pregnancy and if it doesn't work out you will be fine. Not true!!
Today's Christian society is not much different. Many Christians say 'God loves us and we accepted Christ so we are forgiven' or 'God knows I have this need and I am sure he understands'. There is the 'we are going to get married anyway, so why wait?' reasoning that often comes in after a young couple has been dating for a long time and they may even be engaged.
The truth is premaritial sex is not God's design and there is a reason for it. Some of the consequences of premaritial sex are: sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and relationship troubles.
Sexually transmitted diseases are just plain nasty. Some of them never go away. If you get an std from one person and then break up with him or her and marry someone else, the person you marry is going to have to deal with that disease also. Some of them can cause problems with pregnancies or can even make you infertile.
If you get pregnant before you are married it affects your marriage. Women often wonder if their husband really loves them or if they married them because they got pregnant. It is a thought that never goes away. The husband will often feel guilty about the pregnancy or feel betrayed and deceived.
Chuck Swindoll said one thing he noticed about marriages where there was premaritial sex is that the husband always becomes passive. He said he has yet to see a marriage where this does not happen when there is premaritial sex.
His comments made me think about the butterfly. When a butterfly is coming out of its cocoon it has to struggle to get out. It is a long hard process. It is hard, but it has a purpose. The struggle that the butterfly has in the cocoon has more of a purpose than just getting the butterfly out. While the butterfly is struggling it is actually pushing fluid to its wings so that they will be strong. If the butterfly does not have that struggle it will not get the fluid to its wings properly and it will be weak and possibly die.
Consider the dating and engagement period a time of necessary struggle against some of those temptations. If you wait and do it God's way the fluid will go to your wings and it is a good strong start to your marriage.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.
Today's society says that sex is just the physical and is a natural need. You deserve to have sex and if you are not married, but are committed then it is fine. You can try each other out and see if you are compatable. If you use a condom you will be safe from diseases, unwanted pregnancy and if it doesn't work out you will be fine. Not true!!
Today's Christian society is not much different. Many Christians say 'God loves us and we accepted Christ so we are forgiven' or 'God knows I have this need and I am sure he understands'. There is the 'we are going to get married anyway, so why wait?' reasoning that often comes in after a young couple has been dating for a long time and they may even be engaged.
The truth is premaritial sex is not God's design and there is a reason for it. Some of the consequences of premaritial sex are: sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and relationship troubles.
Sexually transmitted diseases are just plain nasty. Some of them never go away. If you get an std from one person and then break up with him or her and marry someone else, the person you marry is going to have to deal with that disease also. Some of them can cause problems with pregnancies or can even make you infertile.
If you get pregnant before you are married it affects your marriage. Women often wonder if their husband really loves them or if they married them because they got pregnant. It is a thought that never goes away. The husband will often feel guilty about the pregnancy or feel betrayed and deceived.
Chuck Swindoll said one thing he noticed about marriages where there was premaritial sex is that the husband always becomes passive. He said he has yet to see a marriage where this does not happen when there is premaritial sex.
His comments made me think about the butterfly. When a butterfly is coming out of its cocoon it has to struggle to get out. It is a long hard process. It is hard, but it has a purpose. The struggle that the butterfly has in the cocoon has more of a purpose than just getting the butterfly out. While the butterfly is struggling it is actually pushing fluid to its wings so that they will be strong. If the butterfly does not have that struggle it will not get the fluid to its wings properly and it will be weak and possibly die.
Consider the dating and engagement period a time of necessary struggle against some of those temptations. If you wait and do it God's way the fluid will go to your wings and it is a good strong start to your marriage.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.
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