Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

Love and Respect

 
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery...”
— ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:31-32‬a ‭NIV‬‬

A profound mystery...I often think about that scripture verse a little out of context. I often think my wife, and even women in general are a profound mystery. I don’t really understand them, or get how things work in their minds. I am sorta joking, but in many ways I am not, men and women are SO different. 

Paul reminds us the Christian marriage is a profound mystery. 

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery...” - ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:31-32‬a ‭NIV‬‬

We are one flesh, united in Christ Jesus. Paul went old school here, he pulled out the Torah, which would be very easy for him since he would of had much if not all memorized. 

“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” - ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Throughout Pauls writings, and other writers we read to honor God with our Body’s. We hear that our body are temples of the Holy Spirit. That the Spirt of the Lord dwells in our body. 

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” - ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6:19-20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I get why Paul was reminding the Ephesians that this is a mystery. Our physical bodies are more than just flesh, bone and blood. We are a spiritual being, the Spirit of the Lord dwells in each of us, and as a Christian husband I am also one with my wife, and we are united as one in Christ. 

I am just going to focus on my part to play, so men pay attention. 

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” - ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:25-28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Whoa...this is a high bar, and standard! This is a unique type of love, well beyond gifts, taking out the trash, and mowing the lawn. This is a sacrificial kind of love. Pastor Kris unpacks this kind of love and breaks it down for us. 

There are four words in Greek that all get translated as love in English, but they’re different. The first three are brotherly love (or affection), romantic love (or passion), and contented (or steadfast) love. A husband should have all of those for his wife. But the fourth one, the one here, is agape. It is sacrifice. Die to self.

Love = affection, passion, steadfast and sacrifice. Four parts to love, and my guess would be husbands you often think about the first two, maybe the third every now and again. But we must bring in the fourth, agape love and recognize that two becoming one requires and demands us to sacrifice, to die to self. This is the greatest call of servant hood. We should not be limited in our service to just our gifts, we need to bring all we have...but I think we need to start by leveraging the gifts that God has put in us, and operate out of our gift mix.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” - ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4:10-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Husbands, serve your wife’s. Husbands, lay down your selfish ambition and put her needs and desires above yours. Agape love is our calling as a Christian husband. Guys, I understand that you needed and require respect. My guess is, if you love your wife with agape love, with a sacrificial, die to self love - respect will be a natural response from her. Don’t hold your love until you are respected, that is not agape. 

Love and Respect. Men, love [agape] your wives! Women, you are a profound mystery to us...but we really desire and need your respect.

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storch