Learning to Discern
Sometimes it’s so hard to discern what’s going on in your life emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually. Something is off kilter, but you just can’t put your hands on it. You’re not quite yourself. You’re edgy. You’re frustrated. You’re tense. Or your marriage relationship isn’t quite right. You’re distant. Distracted. Touchy.
And then it hits you.
It’s been days since you’ve prayed or spent quality time with God. Or you and your mate have gotten so busy that you’ve hardly shared a kiss or a conversation. Or maybe you’ve gotten hooked on a television show or novel that’s not good for your soul. Or perhaps you’ve been hanging out with a friend who loves to gossip and put her husband down. Now what?
Learning to discern such things is a spiritual gift, and a discipline, that you can cultivate in your life. 1 Corinthians 2:10-14 talks about this gift; it’s the ability to judge between good and evil, and then it’s choosing to live in the light of God’s truth. That’s what makes the difference.
Discernment comes when you understand what God wants for you personally and for your marriage. But wisdom comes when you choose to obey His truth. Sometimes it’s choosing to spend more time in prayer or the word, more time together as a couple, and less time with unhealthy friends or media. Sometimes it’s simply applying common sense to something. Other times it takes stepping back and observing a situation and praying, reading God’s word, and finding the truth in the matter.
Proverbs 3:21 says, “do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion”. In our personal lives as well as in our marriages, we need wisdom and understanding more than ever. Our culture has become so tainted with the “wisdom of this world” that it can become difficult to make daily decisions and choose well if we don’t have the plumb line of God’s truth to anchor us well.
God loves me and wants the best for me. It’s not about me. Marriage is for life. Marriage is about us and what God wants to do with us. Marriage is about serving one another, not getting my needs met. Marriage is about growing together in God. And often, marriage is about sacrificing my wants for the good of another.
Discerning between God’s truth and worldly wisdom isn’t always easy, but learning to discern wisely is the best way to strengthen your personal life and your marriage relationship spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically. It’s a good way to go.
How have you learned to discern through the years? I’d love to know!
Water Your Marriage
I have a spider plant that just won’t stop making babies. I really don’t do much with the plant, but I faithfully water it, give it plenty of sunshine, and fertilize it once a month. So it happily grows and grows. In fact, it grows so fast and multiplies so often that I have made several Facebook posts asking friends to come and adopt the baby spider plants!
Our marriage is much like a plant. When we marry, we plant our little seedlings of love, and then we watch it grow. But as time goes on, if we don’t water it regularly, our marriage can wither and die if it isn’t cared for faithfully. And if we don’t give it sunshine and fertilize it consistently, it won’t be healthy.
We have to be purposeful about “watering” our marriage. We must consciously make the effort to sprinkle lots of encouragement, words of affirmation and love, acts of kindness and service, and gifts of mercy and grace. And we must do this regularly. We must cheer one another on and watch our baby plants of love, commitment, faithfulness, trust, and companionship grow and multiply so that we can then give to others.
Sometimes I’ll find a weed in my plant, and if I don’t get it out of there, it’ll take over and kill my plant. But as I get rid of the weed, I must be careful that I don’t damage it or its roots, so I do it gently. I first water it, because, if the soil is moist, pulling the weed out is much safer and easier. Like my plant, sometimes we’ll find a “weed” in our marriage—an attitude, a bad habit, a neglectful trend, etc.—and although we need to pull it out, we must be gentle and wise and careful that we don’t hurt our relationship in the process.
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 shows us God’s process of growth. We water and weed and tend our marriage garden, and as we work with God, our marriage will grow stronger, deeper, and more productive. And as we ask for his wisdom, God will open our eyes to knowing how to water our marriages, how to deal with the weeds, and how to fertilize our relationship so it will continue to grow. Ask Him; He will show us how to make our marriage thrive.
How do you water your marriage? I’d love to know!
Micro-Seasons in Marriage
Ecclesiastes says “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”. That includes those micro-seasons of marriage within every day, week, and year.
So how do you manage those micro-seasons of marriage? Let’s look at Ecclesiastes 3 and see what guidance it might bring, especially as we head into the New Year. Now is a great time to evaluate your marriage and see what you might need to explore.
A time to be born and a time to die. Are there negative things in your schedule that need to “die” and new things you might want to “birth”?
A time to plant and a time to uproot. Are there habits that you might need to uproot or new habits that you may want to plant?
A time to kill and a time to heal. Might there be some toxic things in your marriage that you need to kill, or do you need to take some time to heal from them?
A time to tear down and a time to build. Can there be some walls built up between the two of you that need tearing down, or walls of protection you need to build up?
A time to weep and a time to laugh. Do your conversations go deep enough that you can both weep and laugh together?
A time to mourn and a time to dance. Do you share one another’s grief and mourn together as well as celebrate each other’s accomplishments and dance together?
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. Are there stones of accusations or bitterness that you need to lay down, or stones of remembrance you need to gather?
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. Do you take time to romance each other and are wise about showing affection at the appropriate times?
A time to search and a time to give up. Are there things you need to discuss and explore, or other things you need to give up discussing?
A time to keep and a time to throw away. Might there be things of the past you need to revisit—or throw away—in order to strengthen your relationship?
A time to tear and a time to mend. Are there fences that need mending or offenses that need tearing up?
A time to be silent and a time to speak. Are you careful about knowing when to speak and when to be silent, especially when trying to resolve conflict?
A time to love and a time to hate. Is there sin in your life that you need to hate so that you can really love?
A time for war and a time for peace. Is there peace—and not war—in your marriage?
Just a little food for thought for the New Year. May your marriage be blessed in 2014!
The Twelve Prayers of Christmas
Merry Christmas!
Here’s a twist on the “12 Days of Christmas” song
as my gift to you.
For the first prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
A prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the second prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Two eyes to see Him
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the third prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Three psalms sung strongly
Two eyes to see Him
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the fourth prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Four kids with faith and
Three psalms sung strongly
Two eyes to see Him
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the fifth prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Five worship songs!
Four kids with faith
Three psalms sung
Two eyes to see
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the sixth prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Six books proclaiming
Five worship songs!
Four kids with faith
Three psalms sung
Two eyes to see
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the seventh prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Seven super sermons
Six books proclaiming
Five worship songs!
Four kids with faith
Three psalms sung
Two eyes to see
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the eighth prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Eight faithful fathers
Seven super sermons
Six books proclaiming
Five worship songs!
Four kids with faith
Three psalms sung
Two eyes to see
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the ninth prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Nine teens a telling
Eight faithful fathers
Seven super sermons
Six books proclaiming
Five worship songs!
Four kids with faith
Three psalms sung
Two eyes to see
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the tenth prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Ten joyful mothers
Nine teens a telling
Eight faithful fathers
Seven super sermons
Six books proclaiming
Five worship songs!
Four kids with faith
Three psalms sung
Two eyes to see
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the eleventh prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Eleven grandmas sharing
Ten joyful mothers
Nine teens a telling
Eight faithful fathers
Seven super sermons
Six books proclaiming
Five worship songs!
Four kids with faith
Three psalms sung
Two eyes to see
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
For the twelfth prayer of Christmas
my good Lord gave to me:
Twelve choirs rejoicing
Eleven grandmas sharing
Ten joyful mothers
Nine teens a telling
Eight faithful fathers
Seven super sermons
Six books proclaiming
Five worship songs!
Four kids with faith
Three psalms sung
Two eyes to see
and a prayer of peace for all of God’s world.
by Susan G Mathis. Copyright © 2013, all rights reserved.
10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Five)
How can we apply the 9th and 10th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see.
Commandment 9: Don’t lie
This is a hard one because it involves, among other things, humility. Often we are expected to buy and exchange gifts that we can’t afford, or we are invited to a multitude of parties and holiday get-togethers that would keep us from family time.
Sometimes we just have to be honest and tell the party hostess or those who expect gifts that we can’t afford the expense or time. I’ve come to recognize that telling the truth is more important that living a holiday lie.
Commandment 10: Do not covet
Finally, I came to an easy commandment to apply to the holidays. There will always be others who get more, do more, have more. We must be content with what we have and not covet what others have.
So I want to apply the Ten Commandments to my Christmas and celebrate this wonderful season in a way that honors the Christ Child. Join me, will you?
10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Four)
How can we apply the 7th and 8th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see.
Commandment 7: Don’t commit adultery
Really? At first, it was a mystery for me to know how to apply this commandment to Christmas. Of course I’m not going to commit adultery! So how could I fit this into my 21st century holidays? After thinking about it awhile, it struck me, and hard.
Though we may not be physically unfaithful, how often do we entertain a “mistress” of shopping or busyness instead of spending quality time with our spouses? Too often our marriages get put on the back burner during the busy holiday season, and we forget to take the time to nurture our most precious relationship. Yet the gift of our mate should be one of the greatest reasons to celebrate the season. So during the holidays, my husband and I make sure to have special time set aside that focuses on our marriage.
Commandment 8: Don’t steal
Okay, this commandment was a tad easier to understand. I won’t steal the cologne I want to give my husband or the pretty doll I plan to give my granddaughter. Duh!
But how often to we “rob Peter to pay Paul” when we put gifts on credit or buy things that aren’t in our budget. When we can’t pay off our credit cards in January, or we don’t know where the money will come from to stay on budget after the Christmas presents are opened, are we not stealing from God’s provision for us?
Understanding this helped us create a reasonable holiday budget. I even shop during the year. Because my granddaughters live in South Africa, I just finished my holiday shopping for them—a whole new wardrobe of summer clothes at a fraction of the cost for just one outfit not on sale! Our motto has become: Don’t rob Peter to pay Paul.