is there anything in your life that you cherish? do you really think you know what the word cherish even means? these are questions i ask myself as well. what does it mean to really cherish something? i have a dried rose petal in a small box that i keep in a drawer in the house. it is a rose petal from my grandfather's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in 1996. that rose petal has made the move from IL to SC, then made another move last year when we moved to a different house. some things were broken in the multiple moves, some lost - but my rose petal is still in tact. i cherish that rose petal as if it were a part of me. that's exactly what Paul says in Ephesians 5:28 "Husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies." i know that the verse is directed to husbands, but i think we can learn something from it too.
when we cherish something, we treat it as if it were a part of us! Paul also states ". . . for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it." i'm pretty good at cherishing myself unfortunately, but do i cherish my husband the same why i cherish myself? the Bible says, that when we get married, we become one flesh. i personally don't think we take that seriously. how often do we think, "maybe i shouldn't treat him that way since in reality, we are one flesh." and oh man, our current culture would really disagree with this. it's all about independence these days.
the book states, "When you show love to your spouse, you are showing love to yourself as well. . . When you mistreat your mate, you are also mistreating yourself. Think about it. Your lives are now interwoven together. Your spouse cannot experience joy or pain, blessing or cursing, without it also affecting you. So when you are attacking your mate, it is like attacking your own body" (pg. 52).
determine to learn more about this word "cherish." determine to treat your spouse as if you were one flesh (which you are!). trust me, i know it won't be easy. but, we can do it with the Cross as our center!
"When you look at your mate, you're looking at a part of you. So treat her well. Speak highly of him. Nourish and cherish the love of your life" (53, Love Dare).
Dare: "What need does your spouse have that you could meet today? Can you run an errand? Give a back rub or foot massage? Is there housework you could help with? Choose a gesture that says, 'I cherish you' and do it with a smile."
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