HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 207
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should have for each other. True sensuous love is a giving love, not a taking love, an offering of self rather than a claim to the spouse’s self.
• E PH E SI A NS 5 :2 4 -2 5 | As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your
husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the
church. He gave up his life for her.
After our love for God, nothing should take greater priority than the giving, sacrificial love
we have for our spouse. This love helps us learn more about how we are to love God, and
it is an example to those who are learning about love.
• H E B R E W S 1 3 :4 | Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage.
Before you are married, it is essential that you make a lifetime, irrevocable commitment to
stay married. Then when problems come, you won’t be looking for a way out; instead, you
will look for a way through.
How can parents say they love their children when they punish them? How can
God say he loves me when he punishes me?
• H E B R E W S 1 2 :6 -1 1 | “For the Lord disciplines those he loves.” . . . No discipline is enjoyable
while it is happening. . . . But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living.
Discipline as God intended is meant to correct, to keep us from doing the wrong thing, to
protect us from harm. It is life-building. That kind of discipline is true love. Those who don’t
discipline don’t really care.
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PROMISES FROM GOD
age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.”
• R O MA NS 8 :3 9 | No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all
creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Lust See Desires; Sexuality
We can lust after many things (power, status, material possessions), but lust most often
refers to sexual greed. Healthy sexual desire is not sin, for we are created by God to
enjoy sexual pleasure within the boundaries of committed marriage (Genesis 2:23-25).
But when that desire is fueled by selfishness, it becomes lust. Lust views another person
as merely an object of sexual pleasure and disregards God’s standard for the meaning
and purpose of sexual behavior. Lust at its extreme becomes jealous and violent when
it pushes someone to do anything to get what they want. Most of us don’t reach this
extreme, but we must be aware of the harm even a little lust can lead to.
If lust does not involve actual physical behavior, why is it wrong?
• PR O VE R B S 4 :2 3 | Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
• L U K E 1 1 :3 4 | “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is
healthy, your whole body is filled with light.”
• MA R K 7 :2 0 -2 2 | “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a
person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality . . . lustful desires.”
Your actions don’t just come from your mind; they come from your heart. They tell you
the condition of your heart, because every action begins as a thought. Left unchecked,
wrong thoughts will eventually result in wrong actions. If you continue to think about having sex with someone who is not your spouse, your heart will begin to convince your mind
that what you want to do is okay. The Bible says that the heart is “desperately wicked”
(Jeremiah 17:9). In other words, don’t trust your emotions to tell you what is right and
good. Trust God’s Word, for it comes from God’s heart, which is good and perfect.
• 2 SA MU E L 1 1 :2 -3 | As [David] looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual
beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was.
Left unchecked, lust for another person will more than likely lead to sexual immorality.
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• I SA I A H 4 6 :4 | “I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with