What God tells us about LOVE and SEX

     It is not new to hear stories of young men and women engaging in premarital sex. The world at the present time deceives people into thinking that Love can be measured through physical pleasures and that the moral standards has gotten so stringent than nobody can actually follow it. The media even lures the society into thinking that love is something that is shared by two people, and that sex is always an important factor in keeping a relationship steady and strong. This is due to the evolution of the society due to the advancement of knowledge. People have learned to philosophize things and even come up with a sugarcoated reason and humanely acceptable justification as to why sex is inevitable:  “because we love each other so much”.

            Contrary to all these man-made philosophy and beliefs, the scripture teaches us important lessons on Love and Sex. When God created the world and everything in it, He described all of it as ‘good’ (Genesis 1:3,10,18,21,25). But when God saw Adam alone,

The Lord God said,” it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him”.

Gen. 2:18

  Now that is the first mention of the phrase, “it is not good”. God knew that Adam needs a helper, and that He was willing to give Adam one. And so the Lord God made a woman from Adam’s rib (Gen. 2:22). This is the love instituted by God. God knew that Adam needed someone to share his life with. That’s why He gave Eve. The same principle applies to the present day. God knows every person needs someone. But instead of putting our faith and all hopes in Him, man started to look for it alone. Instead of genuine love, this need was equated to feelings and desires. Hence, the phrases ‘falling into and out of love” became popular.

 If we look closely into the scriptures, God gives us a blueprint of the kind of relationship He wants us to have. In Gen. 2:25, it says:

The man and his wife, were both naked and they felt no shame

This is the first ever Sex in the history of man. And what did the first couple feel? They felt no shame. This is simply because they were in a covenant with God. God has given them the liberty as a couple to do it. It is clear, sex between two individuals should be shameless and this can only happen if they’re in a commitment or covenant with God, not just because they are ‘in love’. 

Now after marriage, God also teaches us how to keep this relationship out of trouble and how to keep it strong. In Matt. 5:27-30, it says:

You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.’ [Exodus 20:14]

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

The battle against sexual immorality does not end when two people get married. Along the course of their marriage, temptations arise and it is in their decision if they’ll let these tamper on their marriage and cause harm to their family. That is why the ultimate protection for a long-term relationship is not the wedding ring but Purity.

            Now the question is, if we want to say out of impurity and sexual immorality, how then can we accomplish this? The answer is in Psalms 119:9

            How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word

 

This is the reason why studying the bible is important. God always provides us wisdom in every situation if only we ask. God is so faithful that he will not let you be tempted beyond you can bear. And when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1corinthians 10:13).

It is really hard to live in a world that tolerates lust and impurity but we shall not be moved and yield to all of these. For Jesus Christ can make us pure. Purity is possible only through Him, if we make Him our Lord and if we allow Him to work into our lives. And as a practical application, whenever we are tempted, we can always think of this simple statement:

There are only 3 relationships towards the opposite sex, for a woman: father, brother and husband; for a man: mother, sister and wife. Nothing in between.

Beyond sunday: WORK as worship

I want to share with you the preaching I’ve heard through Ptr. Joey Bonifacio and Ptr. Christian Flores. Let us all be blessed!

“Work is when you expend energy in service of others, to be a benefit to the community, for fulfillment, to give glory to God.”

  ‘My work is worship’It is a way of acknowledging how great our GOD is. When you expend energy , trudge everyday to get to work and get your salary, you’ll never feel fulfilled. The more you expend energy, the more bouncy, the happier you get.”- Ptr. Joey

We have been fighting a lot of battles lately. It is no doubt that all of us are overwhelmed and stressed out by all of our personal issues , taking also into account national and international havoc. As we close our eyes and sigh, there’s  always this hope for something better, a change or maybe a breakthrough, may it be on our work, academics , family or even personal growth.  But have we tried to ask ourselves, could it be that we could respond to stressful days with a different attitude? Could it be that instead of whining and complaining, we can be joyful and thankful after a stressful and draining week?

 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

- Genesis 2:15

This is the first time the word ‘work’ was mentioned in the bible. If we look its meaning in the dictionary it gives us the synonyms: to do something, worship, work in any sense and in a levitical sense, to serve.  The levites were always meticulous when it comes to their work for they know it is GOD whom they were serving , the one who deserves the best. As Martin Luther said, “God is interested in good craftsmanship” and He is the one who called us to be in our places right now.

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

- Genesis 3: 17-18

 Then there came the problem. Because of the fall of man, work became tedious. People became conscious of how they will earn a lot to feed themselves. The idea of working was diverted from being an act of service to a responsibility of sustaining one’s life. But we should not be bothered for this does not apply anymore. It is clear in the New testament that someone greater has the responsibility of provision. The GOD we are serving is our source of provision therefore all we must do is to believe and work for HIM This is the right perception about work.

Throughout history, the equivalence of work as an act of worship has been held true. The ascent of money is one of its example. One of the first life insurance companies was designed by missionaries. Obviously, it was designed to serve, to build something. Also, a chain of banks established by the consortium of Christians existed to honor God.  Other companies and organizations are also living testimonies to how God provides adequately and graciously. There’s a Danish company which manufactures toys to educate kids. Everyday, they start their work with a prayer. They started as a small company but they grew big because of worhipping a BIG GOD. The Red Cross was founded by Christians and so is the YMCA. The issue is not what and where you do, the issue is the spirit by which you do it. Are you serving God? Are you honoring God?

The sad truth is that somewhere along the way , we lost this spirit. For now we often looked on what job we do than the worship we do when we’re actually working on that specific job. As Christians, we must learn to practice this lesson: to worship God in our work . This is something that we should not do only during calamities or hardships. This what we are all designed to be. This is what God wants us to be.

work at it with all your heart.- Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

- Colossians 3:23

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The hardest thing to do is to work for someone you don’t want to. But good thing is it is God we are serving and we’re gonna get paid by the right master. Eric Liddle, one of the fastest runners once said, “I believe God made me for a purpose but He also made me fast And when I run I feel His presence”. This is the spirit of working for God. It is acknowledging His very presence in everything we do. Sin may offer temporary satisfaction, huge sum of money, a fake of something that is easy to get, but we must not yield to any of these. As Christians, we must exercise how to choose the hard right over the easy wrong, for it is in obedience, patience and perseverance in working that we glorify His name.

To end, the word ‘work’ in Hebrew is translated as  shabar or shalbar which means to take care of that atmosphere that His presence in that garden will always be there. How can we be Christians in our work? we must work in such a way that people will notice that  ‘there’s something different’, and that they may ask us, “what’s with your spirit?”.