June 13-14 - Ephesians 5:22a

submit yourselves

Ephesians 5:22

^NIV

 

Do you know what one of the worst words in the world is? Submission.

 

The first dictionary definition that I read of submission calls it a “yielding to a superior force.” ^{Oxford Dictionaries}

 

Downtrodden armies surrender in this way to forceful and superior foes. They have no choice but to yield.

 

Slaves are also imprisoned by forceful and superior foes. They have no choice but to yield.

 

Powerless victims are abused by dark forces too. Yielding often seems a sad and violent inevitability.

 

In a sinful world, that’s what “submission” means, right? Submission is being defeated by a violent and angry foe.

 

Is that how you view submission?

 

Is your impression of yielding seen through the eyes of sin?

 

In our sin-saturated world, it’s hard to view anything except through the cloudy and crimson lenses of sin. Therefore, we must look at the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – to see a glimpse of true and eternal relationships before sin could cloud our human vision.

 

Therefore, we look to Jesus to see how he defined his relationship with God in Heaven. What was Jesus’ role on earth? He said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” In other words, Jesus is submissive to the will of God in Heaven.

 

Indeed, it is Jesus himself who intentionally adopts the titles of “Father” and “Son” to describe his relationship with the first person of the Trinity. It’s an intentionally submitted and obedient term that Jesus chooses.

 

This is why I prefer the second definition I found of “submission.” From Miriam-Webster we learn that “submission” is “the state of being obedient.” It is “the act of accepting the authority … of someone else.”

 

If “submission” stems from manipulation, control, belittling, and force, then some of the Bible is offensive and oppressive. (That’s what I was taught when I was young. It was said that the Apostle Paul, who wrote today’s verse, “hated women.” The mantra was, “How dare he say that women ought to submit?”)

 

Let me ask you a question: Do you think that the Apostle Paul is advocating a sinful definition to create a more sinful future? Or do you think he’s pointing to God-the-Father and Jesus-the-Son as a model for a more life-giving future? Do you think, indeed, that we are pointed to the only relationship that is eternally “love without end, Amen”?

 

Let’s look at that!

 

Our Scripture for today is barely a fragment of a longer paragraph and deeper thought.  It’s out-of-context, therefore.

 

The full verse says, “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.” But even that is out of context.

 

Our goal for the next few days is to put this passage back into context … to help us understand God’s plan for men and women in marriage … and to allow us to discover the kind of love that is less tainted by sin, division, abuse, power, and pain.

 

Question: How do you really define “submission”?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who needs

to submit continually more

to God-the-Father

 

 

June 11 - John 13:4-5

[Jesus] took off his outer robe,

and tied a towel around himself.

Then he poured water into a basin

and began to wash the disciples’ feet

John 13:4-5

^NRSV

What's the next problem in marriage? Women's Health magazine reports:

Having a husband creates an extra 7 hours a week of housework for women, while a wife saves a man an hour of housework per week, according to a University of Michigan study of a nationally representative sample of US families.

Ouch.

Many blame that on husbands. (Guys, maybe you need to step up!)

Ironically, though, many blame some of this on women's lib. (Really?!)

Here's the strange story: In the early 1970s, home ownership and mortgages  were approved based only on the main bread-winner's salary in the family, and not upon both salaries (if the family had two families). This usually meant that the men (and their typically larger salaries) were counted, but not the women.

Not fair!

Protests led to both salaries being counted.

And this led to the law of unintended consequences.

Requiring both salaries to be counted -- thus, significantly raising many family's buying power -- caused a sudden spike in buying power. And the market responded. Housing prices almost doubled. And suddenly home-ownership almost required two salaries.

Women once had the choice to work outside the home ... or not. (Freedom.) Now it's become harder and harder for families to afford having mom stay at home. (Less choice, less freedom, greater burden on the family -- the law of unintended consequences.)

And the problems compound: one of the greater burdens, as the opening quote from Women's Health suggested, is that although most women are now working outside the home, they're also still working nearly as hard within the home, still carrying, generally, the majority of the responsibility for cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing.

Risking over-generalization (and, thus, risking being politically incorrect) ... men's hearts tend to support their family by working outside the home ("bringing he the bacon"). Women's hearts tend to support the family through relationships. They tend to take care of the people -- and the places these beloved people live in (the home).

And that doesn't change when the wife works outside the home. In fact, most women wind up working two jobs -- on inside the home, one outside the home. They're exhausted.

Now, men you're exhausted too. You're supposed to be able to go out, work hard, and come home to a place of healing and rest. But … it's not fair to leave your brides working two jobs when you're working just one or one-and-a-half.

Looking around at most suburban American families, men, we need to step up. We need to cook more meals and wash more dishes. We need to vacuum more and change more diapers. We need to wash feet!

Those may not be your gifts. You may be better at mowing the yard and changing the oil in the minivan. So do that ... and ...

Well … "and" is the key word.

I realize those are mostly gender stereotypes. In most ways, there are no officially "assigned" roles. The only real rule is: share time and effort! Husbands and wives ought to divide and conquer ... equally.

Use your gifts, sure. But share your time, even when it's not your gift. (For example, cleaning gutters is not my spiritual gifting. But that's what I was doing this morning. Why? Not because I wanted to. Not because I'm better at it than Mary Louise. Not because it's the man's job. It's simply because in sharing, someone has to cling precariously from the roof and stick his hands in goo. She gets other goo. This one is mine.)

So … men … if your wife is up working, you should probably stand up and work too. Share in the responsibilities. This is a team.

Question: Are you both sharing equally in terms of time?

In Christ's Love,

a guy whose roles

changed constantly

throughout the years ...

with only one constant:

whenever I don't pitch in

equally, there is less joy

all around

June 12 - Psalm 112:1-2

Blessed is the man

who fears the LORD …

His offspring will be

mighty in the land;

the generation of the

upright will be blessed.

Psalms 112:1-2

^ESV

Funny ...

To start a list of "problems in marriage" (that we want to solve), I googled those words. Clicking the first link that appeared, I've wound up for these last several days on the first link in the computer generated list -- Women's Health magazine.

But to get to today's problem, a dieting ad popped up in my browser. Thus, in order to get to today's issue, I had to click the dieting link that said, "No thanks, I already have a bikini body."

So from the guy with apparently a bikini body ...

Today's marital "problem" is kids.

(Now … while I know first-hand that kids are a lot of work and do cause more than a few challenges, that fact that kids are labeled a "problem" in marriage is itself the real problem!)

Maritally, though, here's one reason why kids are such a challenge. As Women's Health reports: "Women bear the lion's share of the childcare work, which may be why 70 percent of women report being significantly less satisfied with their marriages after baby arrives."

Please refer to yesterday's devotion. We discussed the discrepancy (often in terms of time and effort) between how men and women contribute to the day-to-day tasks of the home. (This may be especially true in terms of nurturing children. Women tend to be more relational.)

Having discussed that, let me turn to another part of the problem ...

Our society promotes selfishness.

Our own sin-nature also promotes selfishness.

But successful parenting requires selflessness.

Read that last word carefully: successful parenting requires selflessness.

As a dad, I am now on the other side of my at-home parenting years. My boys are grown. I can't say I was always selfless, but because I wasn't primarily selfish, my days then were more joyful.

And there's an added benefit: My days now are more joyful too‼

As a relatively selfless dad, I helped raise young men of character. And the peace and joy I have now in witnessing healthy sons was worth every moment of my sacrifice then. (Similarly, I've watched other attentive dads raise confident daughters who don't have to seek worldly attention ... because they're secure in their daddy's eyes.)

As a dad on the other side of that journey, I'll speak especially to the dads -- the time goes fast. Be selfless now!

Your time for yourself will come later.

And your later will be better because 1) your kids are more likely to be oaks of righteousness, and 2) your wife, who you supported powerfully in this parenting venture, will be standing joyfully beside the man she's so proud of.

Question: Husbands, wives, and especially you men, if God has blessed you with children, are you partnering powerfully in the selfless joy of raising the ones entrusted to you?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to be

more less than ish

(after all that's how I got

this bikini body!)

June 10 - Matthew 22:21

Jesus said,

“Therefore render to Caesar

the things that are Caesar's, and

to God the things that are God's.”

Matthew 22:21

^ESV

Yesterday, we talked about the problem with money on a personal level. (Couples need to communicate and budget.)

Today, let's talk about money on a system-wide level.

Have you ever wondered why -- in this culture today -- money is growing tighter and tighter?

I know. I know. It's complicated and you don't like to think that deeply!

Nevertheless, if we're not a little aware, we're inevitably pawns and a poorer future will increasingly be dictated to us. Let me give you a hint of an explanation and a remedy to a piece of the problem.

Have you ever wondered why in this economy, there never, ever seems to be enough to go around?

Over the last twenty years in general and the last seven years in particular, there's been a subtle inflation combined with a deadening wage stagnation. (Things cost more and the average family has less to spend.)

There's also been a steady increase in the number and cost of helpful products that we "need" -- computers, cell phones, data plans, etc. (The new technologies are often very cool, but they're also very costly!)

Anyway, combine all of these factors and money is much tighter than in our parents’ generation.

So how do we handle the inequality of this lopsided supply and demand? (What we want and demand keeps swallowing our available money supply. So, yes, how do we handle this?) Most of us do it through a lie, through a short-term illusion. It's a temporary slight-of-hand. But in the end, who gets slighted? We do.

Most of us spend for today, and we don't save for tomorrow.

Reality: the economics stink. And it will get worse (when tomorrow inevitably comes and we have little to fall back on).

So what do you do?

It's the same answer as yesterday. I just needed to say it again because there's absolutely no short-cut to financial peace.

·       The key is communication.

·       It is mutual priority-setting (what do we really care about and need in life)... and then it is cooperative budget setting.

·       It is planning to save.

·       It is the spiritual trust to give generously.

·       It is refusing to borrow.

·       It is budgeting an allowance. (My family likes using cash, because when it's gone, it's gone.) Yes, it's important to make an allowance for fun ... but to do it cooperatively within your means.

Question: Yesterday I invited you to rate yourselves on how wisely you do each of these steps. Did you actually sit down to budget and prioritize together? Make a literal date. For an evening, it won't be near as much fun as dinner and a movie. For a lifetime, though, it will bring a clarity that will bring a deeper joy.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's rich interpersonally

and more comfortable monetarily

because he had and keeps having

these necessary conversations

(In fact, Mary Louise and I are

going on a retreat soon to

talk through the next ten years)

 

June 9 - Hebrews 13:5

Keep your life free from love of money,

and be content with what you have

Hebrews 13:5

^ESV

Do you remember the old saying about appetites? My eyes were bigger than my stomach!

That's the way it is with money nowadays. Our eyes (and desires) are bigger than our wallet.

Yes, another common problem in marriage is money.

At it's core, money is mainly a communication problem. Yes, one of you is more of a spender and the other is more of a saver. Communication-wise, you need to be faithful enough -- faithful as a steward of your money and faithful to your vows as husband and wife -- to decide together on how to spend.

Mary Louise and I settled on a personal allowance.

After all the bills were budgeted -- mortgage, food, transportation, etc. -- and after we gave to the church and put some in savings, only then did we get an allowance.

It's funny. When our kids were teens, one of the things we budgeted was their allowance. Often ... their allowance (their discretionary spending) exceeded ours.

We had to define happiness apart from things. Responsibility and raising children of character trumped the momentary purchasing of "happiness."

Isn't that sometimes why we buy things? It's an anti-depressant. New stuff makes us feel better.

It's a drug. Alcohol, for example, is chemically a depressant -- a depressant with a kick! It's one step up (the buzz) and then, later, two steps down (the hangover). Spending is like that. Just remember, though, that the short-term buzz is never worth the long-term hangover of debt and financial instability.

The key is communication.

·       It is mutual priority-setting ... and then cooperative budget setting.

·       It is planning to save.

·       It is the spiritual trust to give generously.

·       It is refusing to borrow. (It's a game that banks have rigged so that they win. Which means that it is a game rigged for you to lose.) It is budgeting an allowance. (We like using cash, because when it's gone, it's gone.) It's important to make an allowance for fun ... and to do it cooperatively within your means.

Question: Rate yourselves on how wisely you do each of these steps. Share this with your beloved. And then communicate ... and budget together.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who feels like

a teenager when he gets

his monthly allowance

(I'm free and responsible

and a joyful kid again)

June 8 - Numbers 14:18

The LORD is slow to anger,

abounding in love and

forgiving sin and rebellion.

Yet he does not leave

the guilty unpunished;

he punishes the children

for the sin of the parents to

the third and fourth generation.

Numbers 14:18

^NIV

 

Yesterday's devotion about that impact of parents and in-laws on a marriage reminded me of something important I need to tell you ... 

 

First, I never liked passages like today's verse from Numbers. It doesn't seem far for God to punish great-grandchildren for the sins of a great-grandpa they never even met!

 

Having been a pastor for twenty years, however, I am convinced that passages like this are descriptive rather than prescriptive. God is not "prescribing" judgment -- as in, if you sin, I the Lord am going to curse you, your kids, and your great-grandchildren. No, God is "describing" what happens when we sin: Sin often locks generations into a pattern of perpetual dysfunction. 

 

Read that again: Rebellion against God and his ways locks us in a repeating pattern of dysfunction. 

 

Did you ever hate it as a kid when you were forced to endure the "consequences" of your own actions? If you fail to study, you flunk a test. If you're caught drinking at a teenage party, you lose your driving privileges. After twenty years of being a pastor -- and watching families and generations – I’m convinced that when God says that "he does not leave the guilty unpunished," he's usually saying, like a good parent, "I'm going to let you suffer the consequences of your own actions. And rebellion against me, the Lord, may lock you into a repeating pattern of dysfunction."

Have you seen it in families? 

 

·         Abusing fathers tend to produce children who abuse their children. 

·         Sinful choices -- like the rebellion that leads to teenage pregnancy -- can trap the next few generations in a cycle of poverty. 

·         The worst rebellion is a parent who rejects God. And whether it’s overt (outright atheism) or subtle (a gradual lack of church attendance and failures in devotion), what do these parents pass onto their kids -- often to the third and fourth generation? An absence of God in their lives. 

These are natural consequences. 

 

Punishments? Yes ... in one sense. Natural consequences.

 

And how long does this “punishment” last? Until one thing happens ... someone breaks the chain. 

 

In your family, you can be that person. You can break the generational chains. You can stop the cycle of divorce. You can stop the cycle of abuse. You can stop the pattern of godlessness.

 

How? Repentance is the key, for as God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

That’s God’s greatest desire: "I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal [your family]."

Are you ready to be the chain breaker?

Question: What forms of generational bondage are in your family? 

·         Are there generations of divorce in your family? Have you been accidentally taught that it's easier to run than work through problems? 

·         Are there generations of abuse? or anger? or sarcasm, belittling, or blaming?

·         Are there patterns of addiction? Unhealthy habits that don't have to be carried on to the next generation?

·         Is there a love of money, a materialism that chokes out deeper meaning and purpose?

·         Is selfishness the model you've been unconsciously taught?

·         Morals -- has your family taught you to be permissive and to compromise and excuse? or have they taught you to be legalistic and judgmental?

·         Has some prejudice been passed to you generationally?

·         Most of all, have you inherited a mediocre faith -- a faith that's likely to dissolve even further unless husband and wife "will humble themselves and pray and seek my face."

Here are the two main questions:

 

1.    What are the generational bondages that unfortunately and accidentally define you?

 

2.    Are you going to be a victim? or a chain breaker?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who refuses

to play the victim

 

 

 

 

June 6-7 - Genesis 28:6

Esau saw that Isaac

had blessed Jacob and

sent him away …

to take a wife

Genesis 28:6

^NRSV

 

I googled "problems in marriage" -- our theme for these next few days. (Thinking about how to avoid and solve “problems in marriage,” of course; not perpetrating or perpetuating them.)

 

Can you guess what the first, big, marital problem on the list is?

 

In-laws!

 

I've written earlier about the Genesis 2 call for men and women to leave their fathers and mothers and cling -- as a first priority -- to their spouse. 

 

But here’s the excuse: "But Scripture tells me that I must honor my mother and father." (Along with the kid who can’t cut the apron strings, a few manipulative parents play that card too, saying those very words to their kids. Indeed, rather than sending our kids out to find a wife – like Isaac did for Jacob – we hold our kids sufficatingly close, not really wanting them to grow up.)

 

So … it is surely true that we must honor our parents. BUT ... you are NOT honoring your father and mother if you are dishonoring or de-prioritizing your spouse!

 

Indeed, what is the best way to honor mother and father? The best way to honor our parents is not to go backward -- living life in the past and still hoping mommy will be the one who bandages our skinned knees. No! The best way to honor our parents is to take the best of their marriage and carry it forward.

 

We are to take the best of what they've taught and modeled and inspired and carry it forward to a next generation. 

 

Not growing up is not honoring our parents -- no matter how much they'd still like to pamper us. No! Rather, a successful, joyful, God-honoring marriage is the best way to truly honor our parents. 

 

Question: All people are gifted (made in the image of God) and imperfect (sinful and falling short of God's glorious standard). That means your parents -- both sets of parents -- are gifted and imperfect. As you think about your marriage, make a loving list of gifts from your parents that you want to intentionally carry forward ... and make a loving list of imperfections that you want to leave behind. 

 

Two notes: 

 

1.    This must be a "loving list" when judging and evaluating our parents -- especially their imperfections. We need to be gracious, remembering that we too have imperfections too (and lest we get prideful, we need to remember that at the moment, we have about a quarter century less maturity than they do -- i.e. evaluate, don't judge!) 

 

We need to assume that our parents did the best they knew how in raising us. 

 

Therefore, by loving ... forgiving ... and improving on what we were brought up with, we break any generational chains and dysfunctions and create a better future. (And that is how we truly honor our parents.)

 

2.    Realize that leaving behind imperfections will take discipline and prayer. Why? Because these imperfect patterns have been ingrained into your unconscious patterns. On auto-pilot, we're accidentally just like our parents -- for better or worse. Prayerfully observe your marital frustrations and see what imperfections you are unconsciously perpetuating. 

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is trying to be

as good as an in-law as

our parents have been to us

June 5 - Ecclesiastes 1:9

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done

is what will be done; there is

nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

^NRSV

The Sexual Revolution ... when did it begin?

Hmm. Well … let's put it this way: There is nothing new under the sun.

That was the assessment of King Solomon. (He was, of course, the man with 700 wives and 300 hundred concubines. And he was also the one who tried hedonism as the path to happiness: “I thought to myself, ‘Come now, I will try self-indulgent pleasure to see if it is worthwhile.’ But I found that it also is futile – Ecc 2:1.)

While the Sexual Revolution truly started long ago, the 1960s marked the age when many Americans first seemed to hear the first shots in the war. Nevertheless, this "Era of Free Love" ushered a very different culture into our relatively settled American society.

A very disastrous new culture.

That's the assessment of Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, author of "The Sexual Revolution and Its Victims."

The Sexual Revolution was supposed to be about freedom. But rebellion against God's gracious wisdom always and ultimately brings bondage.

Who are the victims of the Sexual Revolution?

·       Millions upon millions of children are growing up without both parents.

·       Too many women are abandoned and are raising kids as single mothers.

·       There is a continued collapse of the nuclear family.

·       There is a rapidly rising rape culture.

·       As the sex industry rises, so does human trafficking.

·       Being sexually assaulted is increasingly common for young girls -- and young boys too. And a sexually permissive culture is unintentionally -- but increasingly -- encouraging young boys to act on urges.

·       There is the powerful bondage of pornographic addiction on a generation of individuals. 

·       The deadening effects that watching pornography has on real person-to-person relationships.

·       The growing acceptance of practices which were historically labeled "perversion." (On the day I'm writing this, New York legalized some forms of incest.) Too many people who'd like to be married and raise a family can't seem to find partners who want a commitment.

·       Some women, who after two decades of chemical-induced birth control, can't conceive naturally when -- in their mid-thirties -- they finally start trying. This often causes great grief and/or great expense.

·       Generations of children who are being robbed of their innocence -- by what they are increasing being exposed to on family television; by what's being talked about by kids at school at a younger and younger age; by what's being modeled by unhealthy parents who are selfishly satisfying themselves, regardless of the impact on their kids. 

·       And most of all the millions of unborn babies who were aborted ... and the millions of would-be-moms who report significant emotional scarring.

The logic of our modern society is privacy and freedom -- whatever happens between two people (or increasingly between three or one) is their own private business, right?

Well, if this is your ethical logic, re-read the list above. The Sexual Revolution has been fought ... and increasing slavery, sadness, and dysfunction has won.

Question: What are your ethics regarding sexuality? Indeed, what do you excuse (sexually or in any other moral category) ... and what are the unintended consequences?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants

a new sexual revolution

-- one that fights against

the current enslavement

June 4 - Matthew 15:8

Jesus said,

‘These people draw near to

Me with their mouth, and

honor Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.”

Matthew 15:8

^NKJV

I want to follow yesterday's devotion with one of my favorite images for marriage -- the triangle.

Imagine a triangle. In one bottom corner is the husband. In the other corner at the base is the wife. Guess who's on top? God!

Now imagine again the triangle. How far apart are husband and wife? (It depends on how big the triangle is, right?)

Now ... watch this: What happen when husband and wife draw near to God? What happens?!! They draw closer and closer to one another!

We have a common focus. We have a common purpose. And ... we have a power!

As we draw closer to God, he gives us his strength, his wisdom, his unconditional love, and his ability to forgive. Could your marriage use any of those?

Are we draw close to God the Holy Spirit, he gives us more love, joy, and peace. More patience, kindness, and forgiveness. Do you need any of these? More faithfulness -- to God and to each other. More gentleness. More self-control.

Climbing the ladder of faith together (that's a triangle isn't it?) builds partnership. It's a glorious journey together. (And it's the only gift that allows us the assurance beyond 'til death do us part!)

Question: What do you need to do to draw closer to God together?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who had to ask

what kind of perfect triangle

had three equal sides

and three equal angles

(equilateral)

June 3 - Ecclesiastes 4:12b

Three are even better,

for a triple-braided cord

is not easily broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12b

^NLT

In rope making, there's a power in three. 

One cord is easily broken. It's only as strong as its weakest spot. 

Two cords are stronger. But it's mainly just a twist that can easily unravel. 

Three is a braid. It locks ties the strands together. In fact, when it is pulled, the tension ties it tighter and makes it stronger. 

Four (or more) strands may make a rope thicker, but it won't necessarily add to its strength. 

Why? Because each strand is not in constant contact with every other strand. 

Four or more are not always touching. 

Three are! Constantly. Drawing strength from each other. 

So how does this apply to the marriage of one man and one women? By my count, that's two cords -- twisted, but prone to unraveling. 

Who or what is the third cord?

God!

And that makes all the difference!

Too many people try to make a marriage without God as an equal partner. Even good Christian couples. We're physical (two) rather than spiritual (three). 

 

It's understandable, but it explains why too many marriages untwist and unravel. Even among good Christians. Functionally, we try doing life without God. We compromise on his commands. We waffle over his ways. We do things in a worldly manner ... and then we're surprised when we get worldly results. 

The secret to life and marriage is the third cord. When things get tight (and they will) ... when tension tugs on our marriage (and it will) ... the third cord (stronger by far than him or her) binds us together and makes us infinitely stronger. 

Question: To what degree is your life and marriage defined by your relationship to that third strand (God)?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who had

brothers and sons,

so I never learned how to

braid things like hair

-- fortunately my wife and

my Lord know how to braid

and I am blessed by a

wonderfully braided marriage

 

 

June 2 -- Ecclesiastes 4:12a

And though a man might prevail

against one who is alone,

two will withstand him—

a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12a

^ESV

 

Fighting and prevailing. Toby Keith sings about it in his song: As Good as I Once Was.

 

I heard David yell across the room,
Hey Buddy, how bout a helping hand?

I said … Dave!
I ain't as good as I once was,
My how the years have flown,
But there was a time,
Back in my prime,
When I could really hold my own,
But if you want a fight tonight,
Guess those boys don't look all that tough,
I ain't as good as I once was,
But I'm as good once, as I ever was.

 

Though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. That’s half of Toby Keith’s logic. (And the whole logic of friendship in Ecclesiastes 4:12.)

 

But what’s the rest of Toby Keith’s logic? He sings, “I ain’t as good as I once was.”

 

How many of you can echo that lyric. Once we hit about 25 or 30, we all begin to physically decline. (Try forty or fifty … and it begins to seem like a free fall. And folks in their seventies and eighties keep telling me, “Growing old ain’t for sissies!”)

 

And yet, here’s the irony. I’m better now than I ever was! Why? How? Well … it’s surely not physically! But it’s relationally.

 

My marriage – closer than it ever was – gives me a profound strength.

Second, I’m strong because of my friendships. I have an incredibly family … even beyond my nuclear family! And just as we support others, they support us.

Finally, I don’t have to just cry, “Hey Buddy, how bout a helping hand?” I can cry, “Hey, Lord-Savior-Friend, how bout your help?” I’ve learned to trust powerfully in him.

 

I am not alone.

 

Toby Keith may sing, “I ain’t as good as I once was.” Those with faith and friendships and strong marriages too can hopefully join with me in singing, “I am better than I once was!”

 

Question: Are you a cowboy who tries to go it alone, or are you investing in the strength of friendships and faith?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who doesn’t long

for the good old days,

but sings instead a Beetles’ song:

“It’s getting better all the time!”

 

JUNE PRAYERS: How can we pray for you?!

First Saturday of the

month prayer time …

How can we pray

for you in June?