Remind Yourself Daily of Grace

Grace is a word we often forget because it is not natural to us. What’s natural for us is to work for something to earn it; to receive something because we think that we deserve it. That is why grace is a life-changing concept because it says we have received something we do not deserve. When we come to think of it, isn’t that life all about? We are always on the receiving end and we are forever undeserving of the things we receive.

We should be reminded daily that all of life is owing to grace. This is crucial because true power is accepting that we are weak and utterly dependent on the grace of God. Through humble dependence on God, He works his strength in our weakness.

“What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Cor. 4:7-8) We are always on the receiving end. God is always the Giver. We are always the receivers. God bestows upon us unearned free grace. We have nothing to boast because everything is from God. Everything is grace.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift are from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (Jas. 1:17) Every gift is from God. All is grace, dear brethren. It should humble us and relinquish self-reliance in ourselves. We are always at the mercy of God. Let us beg for His mercy and grace knowing that our breath, our life, our being, and our motion all come from Him.

There are thousands of ways to be thankful for God because everything we have comes from Him. May He be glorified in everything we have knowing that He is the source and end of all things. (Rom. 11:36) Let us remind ourselves daily of the grace that easily slips from our minds lest we become prideful and self-sufficient. Let us always strive for that sincere awareness that we are always insufficient and that God alone makes us sufficient through the grace He richly supplies us. (2. Cor. 3:4-6)

Debtors of Grace Forever

We are debtors of grace forever even at times that we are unconscious that the grace of God is operating in our lives; enabling us, transforming us, sustaining us, forgiving us, and strengthening us.

It is the common grace of God that makes the sun shines, rain falls, and oxygen flows to the believer and the nonbeliever alike. (Matt. 5:45-47) Apart from the sustaining grace of God, every thing in the world will fall apart. The planets, moons, stars, and the sun will move out of their proper places and then collide with each other resulting to chaos, disaster, and calamity.

Apart from the grace of God, we can never move one inch of our bodies. We could never exercise our mental faculties and physical capabilities because “in him we live and move and have our being”. (Acts 17:28)

By His grace, there’s life.

By His grace, there’s motion.

By His grace, there’s existence.

Salvation is all by the grace of God. (Eph. 2:8-9) Grace has worked all the way from the time of repentance from our sins and trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior to our moment-by-moment effort to pursue sanctification to the second-by-second preservation until the moment we die. It is all by grace.

It is by grace that God chose us before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:4) It is by grace that we are loved beforehand by God. It is by grace that we are predestined to be Christlike. It is by grace that we are effectually called unto salvation and justified through faith in Christ until our glorification. (Rom. 8:29-30)

Everything is undeserved. Everything is unmerited.

We can do the things that we do for God because of the strength that God supplies so that in everything we do, God alone would be glorified. (1 Pet. 4:11) The effort that we expend to be transformed in the image of Christ is empowered by the gracious God who is “at work in us, both to will and to work, for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13) We willed and worked because He graciously willed and worked through us. Apart from the grace of God that wills and works in us, we can never accomplish anything.

We will be debtors of grace forever. From childbirth to death, grace has worked in us in wonderful and amazing ways. Our debt towards grace increases every second of our lives until eternity. We will forever be indebted to God. That is why we will be forever grateful for the grace that sustains us, saves us, sanctifies us, empowers us, preserves us, and that will glorify us. Grace should crush our pride, humble us, and cause us to praise the glory of His grace. Indeed, “for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

All praises belong to our gracious God that we are debtors of grace forever.

The Abuse of Grace and our Proper Response

Every good thing is a gift from God. We also do not deserve the good things we receive from Him. That is why these gifts are called graces of God. The Apostle Paul heartily agrees through the rhetorical question he asked in 1 Cor. 4:7, “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

The intellect, abilities, skills, and physique that uniquely make us the person that we are, are all thanks to God. It all comes from Him and it is all due to Him. There is no room for boasting because it’s not because of us that we have these things but it’s all because of grace pouring lavishly upon us. The highest evidence of grace is the salvation that God gives to wretched sinners through faith in Christ. Eph. 2:8-9 says, ” For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It is through these verses that we see that salvation which is by grace is a gift from God. From the greatest gift of salvation to lesser gifts like food and clothing; everything is traced back in the fatherly loving hand of God.

Every precious second, every miraculous heartbeat, and every enabling power come from the One who looks after us because He is our Father and we are His children. Unfortunately, we abuse the grace of God. We waste our time instead of making the most of it for the glory of God and the good of others. We waste our heartbeats on trivialities instead of pouring our hearts into the kingdom of God. We use His enabling power for our selfish agendas and not for His glorious purposes.

Abusing the grace of God could manifest in laziness, sinfulness, and mediocrity. There are so many sinful deeds that we could try to enumerate when we abuse the grace of God. If we truly understand the grace of God that He is pouring lavishly into our lives then we would never abuse His grace. God’s never-ending and overflowing grace towards us in Christ should never be used as an excuse to sin but as a reason to serve Him more. As we meditate on the greatest grace of salvation to the least of common grace and every grace in between, may our hearts be eternally grateful to the One who has given all good things that we do not deserve. May it stir humble dependence in our hearts knowing that all things are “from him and through him and to him”. (Rom. 11:36) To God alone be the glory forever.

Unfinished Projects

We should be reminded every day that we are all unfinished projects; that we are all works in progress. And, since we are unfinished projects, we should always remember to treat ourselves and each other with grace. Let us always leave for grace because God is not yet done finishing that good work that He started in us. (Phil. 1:6) On this side of heaven, we will never outgrow our need of transforming grace because we will always be needing it as long as we are here in this world.

There are times that I forget that even though we have the Holy Spirit, indwelling sin still remains so we are still capable of thinking sinful things, desiring sinful things, saying sinful things, and doing sinful things. There are times that I get hurt and shocked, why Christians have done what they have done, not remembering that we are all capable of sinning, because sin still remains in our lives. Sin will just be completely removed when we see Christ face to face after death or when Christ gloriously comes again as righteous Judge and Ruler of this world; whichever comes first.

Until then, we must always remind ourselves to be gracious first rather than condemning because sin is always a part of the sad reality of this broken world and our broken selves. Until God completely removes sin from ourselves and the world in the state of glorification, then we should expect that sin will always be a normal part of the life of a Christian. I do not mean to say that since sin is still a part of us then we should keep on sinning. I do not mean to say that. Grace should never be used as an excuse to sin but a reason to serve God more. What I am trying to say is that, no matter how much we do our best according to the Holy Spirit’s empowering and transforming grace in our lives, our best efforts are still tainted and mixed with sin. Hence, we should look each other through the eyes of grace knowing that sin is still in every thought, desire, word, and action. And that God is not yet finished in purifying every thought, desire, word, and action. And God will never be finished until sin will be no more.

Until that day, may we be quicker to restore each other in a spirit of gentleness every time we sin rather than be quicker to condemn because sin is always a possibility in our lives. Even the apostle Paul cried out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) No one is exempted from the struggle that we have with sin. All of us get to deal with this struggle every day. All of us sin every day. That is why we need to be reminded of the rescuing grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every day because every day, whether we like it or not, we are guilty of always falling short of God’s glory. (Rom. 3:23) Until the day of glory, let us show God’s glorious grace towards each other by being kind, patient, and compassionate as God continues to complete what started in us as His unfinished projects.

The Multifaceted Grace of God

The grace of our God is just awe-strikingly amazing. As each second pass us by, as we progress daily with our walk in the Lord, we experience more of the breathtaking profundity of the multifaceted grace of God in our lives. The grace of God comes to us in all shapes and forms.

The multifaceted grace of God is more shiningly brilliant than all the radiance of all the luminaries combined – the sun, the moon, the stars, and other form of beautiful luminaries. Nothing can outshine the multifaceted grace of God in our lives.

The multifaceted grace of God is more strikingly graphic than all various shades of all the beautiful colors combined. Grace is more vivid than the fullest display of all the shades and nuances of available creative colors. Nothing can out color the multifaceted grace of God in our lives.

The multifaceted grace of God is more soothingly harmonious than all the magnificent tones, tempos, and notes of all the musical instruments combined and used by all the most brilliant musicians of our time. Grace is perfectly tuned to every areas of our lives. Nothing can out sing the multifaceted grace of God in our lives.

The grace of God comes in all its shining brilliance, in all its creative colors, and in all its magnificent melodies in our lives. The multifaceted grace of God is tailored-fit to address all the circumstances we could be in – foolishness, weakness, sinfulness, damnation, self-absorption, hunger, thirst, depression, instability, insufficiency, anxiety, neediness, and so many more.

Let us praise our awesome God for His multifaceted grace!

Praise God for His saving grace that saves us from eternal damnation and ushers us into eternal satisfaction the moment we genuinely repent and trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (John 3:16)

Praise God for His sanctifying grace that sanctifies us every second of our lives until we see Christ in all His glory. This is only possible through the Holy Spirit our Almighty Sanctifier that partners with us as we do our best in working out our sanctification because it is God who is at work in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12-13)

Praise God for His securing grace that assures us that He who began a good work in us is faithful to finish what He started. (Phil. 1:6) Praise God that we are forever secured because nothing and no one can take us away from the all-powerful grip of the loving hand of our heavenly Father. (John 10:29) Therefore, we are deeply convinced with absolutely certainty that nothing and no one can separate us from the securing loving grace of God because we are in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:38-39)

Praise God for His strengthening grace that steadily strengthens us through Christ who gives us strength. (Phil. 4:13) Praise God that even though we are left alone, Jesus Christ will stand with us and strengthen us. (2 Tim. 4:17) He will make sure that we won’t fall away because Jesus Christ is also reigning with the Father and He is praying for us moment by moment. Praise God that the Holy Spirit within us, despite of our weakness, supplies us strength, even at tough times, when we are at loss for words. (Rom. 8:26)

Praise God for His solidifying grace that causes us to be deeply rooted in the written Word and the incarnate Word as each second of our lives passes by. We are confident that when His word is our delight, and as the Holy Spirit makes us treasure His word more and more in our lives, we become very sturdy trees that bear fruit. Strong winds could never drive us away from Christ our solid Ground because we are deeply rooted in the word of Christ. (Ps. 1:3-4)

Praise God for His shepherding grace that leads us into green pastures, still waters, and paths of righteousness for His namesake. (Psalm 23:1-3) Bears, lions, wolves, other fearsome predators, and all forms of evil that risk the life of the sheep will never be feared because Christ our gracious Shepherd is with us to protect us even at the cost of His precious life. (Psalm 23:4) Praise God that our Lord Jesus Christ is also our good Shepherd who willingly laid down His life in behalf of His sheep. (John 10:15)

Praise God for His sovereign grace that assures us that all kinds of things will be used for His eternal glory (Rom. 11:36) and our eternal good (Rom. 8:28) The pain, the accidents, the sickness, the sorrows, the mourning, the losses, and all kinds of bad things are under the wise control of our loving Father. God, in His providence, works in all events of history, all choices of humanity, all natural occurrences, and every littlest details of our lives to bring about His sovereign gracious purposes for the ultimate glory of His name, and, by that, our utmost joy and deepest satisfaction.

Praise God for His satisfying grace that gives unending satisfaction to our souls. Our souls are made to be satisfied in Jesus. Nothing and no one else will bring true and lasting satisfaction. He is the Bread of life that rids us of our eternal hunger and He is the living Water that quenches our eternal thirst. (John 6:35) Christ alone can satisfy our insatiable souls. And it’s amazing that all the blessings we experience in our lives lead us to deeper satisfaction of the Blesser.

Praise God for His sufficient grace that gives us all we need. (2 Cor. 12:9) He gives us strength when we admit our weakness before Him. He gives us wisdom when we admit that we are fools apart from Him. God addresses our anxiety by proving that He is faithful to provide us the food and clothing we need because we are more precious than the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. (Matt. 6:25-33) He gives us forgiveness of sins and righteousness when we admit that we would be crushed under the wrath of God because we are so sinful that we could never save ourselves and that He alone could save us through His death, life, and resurrection. Praise God that He has already prepared for us, from all eternity, everything that we need in all types of circumstances because God is our Sufficiency. (2 Cor. 3:5)

Praise God for His substantial grace that overflows in all aspects of our lives because He has blessed us with every spiritual blessings in Christ. (Eph. 1:3) He is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph. 3:20-21)

The multifaceted grace of God goes on and on and on. Never ending. Never exhausted. Overflowing. Unstoppable. Words are insufficient to fully contain and fully express the inexhaustible grace of God that is why we have eternity to experience it in all its fullness. If we have truly experienced the multifaceted grace of God in our lives, it would really take our breath away and put us on bended knees with heartfelt gratitude and praise-filled adoration all the days of our lives. Let us continually bask in the profound depth of the multifaceted grace of God in our lives until we see Grace face to face.

Praise God for His glorious multifaceted grace, the end goal of all things, which He has blessed us in Christ! (Eph. 1:6)

Count Your Blessings

This was one of the hymns that was sung for our last worship service at church before the pastor asked us to share our testimonies on how God has demonstrated His steadfast love and His faithfulness towards us for the year 2023. There was a time limit of two minutes per person so that more people would be able to testify to the amazing grace of God in our lives for the whole year round.

The chorus of the hymn goes as follows:

Count your blessings;

Name them one by one.

Count your blessings;

See what God hath done.

Count your blessings;

Name them one by one.

Count your many blessings;

See what God hath done.

The hymn was timely and appropriate as a precursor to set the tone of our testimonies. We should indeed count all of our blessings to see what God has done for us in the year 2023. And, as we count each of our blessings, we should express our heartfelt gratitude and awe-inspired adoration to God from whom all blessings flow and to whom all glory belongs.

Two minutes will never be enough to count the innumerable blessings that God has bestowed upon us for the past year and to praise Him for it all.

An hour will never be enough to praise the Blesser for the blessings.

A day will never be enough to adore the Giver for the gifts.

A lifetime will never be enough to exalt the Benefactor for all the benefits.

A thousand lifetimes will never be enough to thank the Helper for all the help.

Time is so limited to express our heartfelt gratitude and overflowing praise to our heavenly Father, Christ our Savior King, and the Holy Spirit our Helper. That is why eternal life is promised to all those who would turn away from their sins and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior because eternity is the only period that transcends the limited restraints of time that could logically make proper sense of the fulfillment and satisfaction of the eternal weight of our heartfelt gratitude towards God. The ache in our hearts regarding the limitation of our time to praise Him for all the things He has done for us points to something deeper and greater – the reality that we are made to praise God for all eternity.

Praise God that eternity is promised for those who believe! Praise God that it is not just eternity that we are yearning for but the God who holds eternity in the palm of His hands in whose presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand is pleasures forevermore. (Ps. 16:11) The majestic Beauty makes eternity unfadingly beautiful. The greatest Treasure makes eternity highly valuable. The supreme Satisfaction makes eternity very pleasurable. The ultimate Joy makes eternity deeply delightful.

And with one heart, we continue to exalt God with king David and say, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Ps. 73:25-26)

As the year 2023 came to a close, we were just awestruck of God’s multifaceted grace that comes to us in all shapes and forms.

Praise God for His saving grace which assures us of eternal life with Christ, sanctifying grace which assures us of progressive holiness through the help of the Holy Spirit, sustaining grace which assures us that He who began a good work in us will faithfully finish what He started, strengthening grace which assures us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, solidifying grace which assures us that we would be more deeply rooted in God as years pass by, satisfying grace which assures us of unending refreshing of our souls by our sole Satisfier, and sufficient grace which assures us that we have everything we need from God.

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

Devo (5): By grace alone

Scripture reading:  ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Observation: We are saved by grace alone through faith alone. Grace means unmerited favor. It means we don’t deserve such a great salvation but we still received it from God. It means in spite of the sins that we have done, God has been gracious in saving us from the wrath of God when Jesus bore our sins on His body on the cross and paid for its penalty on our behalf. We received this gift of salvation through faith alone. Faith is the means or the medium upon which the gift of salvation is given to us. Imagine the plane that you are riding crashed. It is burning. If you stay on the plane, you will die. But there is a parachute, if you trust that the parachute could save you. You will jump out of the plane and use the parachute. Same is true with salvation. If we trust that Jesus will save us from the burning anger of God because of our sins then we would turn away from our sins and receive Him as our Lord and Savior; clinging to Him alone as our Parachute that could give us safe landing from hell to heaven.

This gift of salvation is not earned by doing good. If we go to heaven as a result of works, heaven will be full of boastful people who would proclaim that they are in heaven because they donated big money at church, attended church every sunday, prayed everyday, helped the poor, did good things and so on. God won’t get the glory if that would be the case. The purpose of all things is to glorify God including salvation. Salvation gives glory to God because it is owing to His grace alone that we are saved. The only thing that we contributed to our salvation is the sin that made it necessary.

Good works flowed from the reality that we are created in Christ. We have a new heart and a new nature because of the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work when we heard and received the gospel of Jesus. Good works are just a result of our salvation. Good works are in prepared in advance for those who would trust in Christ. It’s like a road that God has prepared for us when we entered the gate of Jesus. It’s the fruit of our faith. It’s the evidence that our faith is true. Remember the thief on the cross, he didn’t do anything but only trusted in Jesus. And Jesus told him that “Today, you will be with in paradise.”

Application: Everything is a gift from God especially salvation. The air we breathe, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the relationships we enjoy are graces and gifts of God. So we should be people who are thankful and joyful with the good things we receive and experience in life. May we be gracious and kind to others as well because God has been gracious and kind to us. And may we bear fruit as we seek to walk in step by the Spirit in response to the wonderful fact we are already saved. May we not use grace as an excuse to sin but a reason to serve God more.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Thank you Jesus for dying for our sins to pay for our punishment in our behalf. Thank you Jesus for living a perfect life for our righteousness in our behalf. We are not free from guilt and perfect in Your sight because of what Jesus did. May we be people full of thanksgiving. And as a response, result, and consequence of the reality that we are already saved, may we bear fruit. May we shine as lights in this dark world. May we reflect Jesus to others and share them the wonderful news about Jesus. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

Devo (2): Speak Life

 Scripture reading: Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Eph. 4:29)

Observation: The apostle Paul commands us that no corrupting talk should come out of our mouths. The word corrupting in greek is σαπρός, pronounced as sapros, which means rotten, corrupt, bad, worthless. This is an adjective and is used for fruits and trees. This word is also used in a a moral sense. If we come to think, rotten fruits are discarded by people. They don’t want to eat it because it is rotten. It’s also same with rotten words. People would be avoid you and would not want to receive your words because it is rotten. It could also be interpreted in a moral sense as it relates to the effect of one’s soul. We are moral beings who have a soul. And, our soul is being affected base on our morality. There are words that corrupt our soul especially if the words said to a person entice sinful imaginations and ignite sinful emotions. It could be words that contribute to lust, anger, malice, hatred, divisions, and all the bad things. It could also refer to speaking nonsense and worthless words that do not add value to a person’s life. Some people speak words with no caution. They just speak for the speak of speaking. Most of the times, because of carelessness, we always speak worthless things.

The apostle then contrasts the words that should only come out of our mouths. What we say should build up a person and should be spoken on the right occasion. It should edify the person. It should encourage. It should be a means for the person to improve, be comforted, and be strengthened. It should also be spoken at the right time. People say that the right words spoken at the wrong time are not beneficial. Timing is really crucial. The circumstance should be considered as we speak the things that we think are good and helpful. People usually don’t listen to advices no matter how good it is because it’s untimely spoken. As we try to speak good, helpful, and timely words, the apostle said that it will give grace to those who hear. Do we not want to be a blessing to people as we speak to them? Do we not want others to experience grace through our words? The ways of the flesh and the patterns of the world in conversations are already so downgrading, noisy, self-centered, and worthless. Let us be the kind of people who speak life and light in this dead and dark world. And how do we do that? We speak good words that builds up at the right moment. As we do that, grace is inevitably received and experienced by others through our words.

Application: Before engaging in conversations with other people, may we have a heart that prays and seeks to bless and give grace to all the people whom we talk to. We could ask ourselves filter questions in light of the verse discussed. Is it good? Is it helpful? (edifying or that which builds up) Is it necessary? (fit for occasion). How many arguments would be avoided if we would pause and ask ourselves these questions before speaking? How many people won’t get hurt with our words but instead be blessed?

Prayer: “Heavenly Father, forgive us for speaking death instead of life, for contributing to the corruption of one’s soul instead of the cleansing of one’s soul, and for downgrading instead of building up others. We will all be accountable with every worthless words we say on judgment day. So, we pray that You would enable us by the power of the Holy Spirit to speak what is good, helpful, and necessary. We want to be a blessing to other people as we talk to them. Make us people who give grace to others through our words because we are recipients of God’s grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ mighty name, we pray. Amen”

A Better Perspective on Relationship according to Genesis 2

I would want to share insights I have gained in relationships from my meditation on Genesis 2. I would like to start first with Genesis 2:15, it says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” The first principle that we could see here is that God created man for work and has given him a platform (garden) to do the work. In today’s age, there are varieties of labor that man could choose from according to the individuals gifts and desires. There are also various platforms wherein work could be applied. Be it in business, agriculture, law, medicine, and other platforms the world has given us. We are not meant for idleness but for God-glorifying work. We would do well to ask ourselves when considering a potential partner, “Does he or she work with the constant awareness of the presence of God – doing all things – for the glory of God?” or “Does he or she exhibit idleness at work?” “Does he or she make the gospel more beautiful because of his or her attitude towards work?”

The second principle is that man is the leader, protector, provider, and the one who is responsible for his wife. In Gen. 2:16:17, it says there: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” The man was commanded by God to not eat of the fruit. The woman was not still in the picture so it should be the man who must take the leadership and responsibility to protect his wife by communicating to her the commandment of God. Unfortunately, the man failed as said in Gen. 3. We can see in Gen. 3 that God holds the man primarily responsible for what they did even though it was the woman who was deceived by the serpent because he was tasked to be the leader and protector of the woman. Since, man was the one tasked to keep and cultivate the garden, he is deemed to be held primarily responsible to be the provider for their sustenance. A man should hold fast to the word of God or else there would be dire consequences of disobedience. The consequences is clearly seen after they eat of fruit. A man should be a man of Word of God to protect her wife from the falsehood and deception of satan. Leading, providing, and protecting go beyond the physical needs but primarily focus on the spiritual needs of the wife just as Jesus give Himself up to cleanse His bride. Men should aim the mold of Jesus and ask within, “Do I lead with a servant heart and love sacrificially?” “Am I willing to risk my life to protect my future wife in physical danger?” “If a burglar enters the house, am I willing to defend her?” “Am I equipped to protect her from worldliness and the schemes of the enemy?” “Could I provide food and clothing – necessities – for my future family?” “Am I constantly equipping myself with the word of God to lead my family according to God’s word?” “Do I exhibit faithfulness and dependence on God or Am I self-reliant when problem comes my way?”

The third principle that I have seen is that man needs help for the task that God has in stored for him. Genesis 2:18 says, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” It is clear in the verse that the work that God commanded man to do necessitates the help of someone suitable for the work as well. Usually, as we try to look for our lifetime partners, we really consider how our gifts and callings compliments with each other in order to fully serve God with our combined capacities. There are times that the strength of the man is where the woman is weak at and vice versa. The phrase “fit for him” assumes a complementary relationship; what he lacks she supplies and vice versa. Both should understand each other giftedness and encourage and make way for the exercise of each other giftedness for the glory of God. They ought to walk hand in hand in advancing the kingdom of God.

The fourth principle that I have learned is before God gave the woman to the man, he formed animals first but Adam did not find a suitable helper for him. (Gen. 2:19-20) I personally see here that God did not give right away the woman so that the man would appreciate her when God gives her to him. Delays cause appreciation and gratitude.

The fifth principle is the woman is not an afterthought. God already planned from the beginning that He will give a helper to the man. If it’s God’s will for us to get married, He already prepared someone for us. It’s our job to be faithful and prayerful to that person even thought our paths have not yet intersected. If a man is in God’s will and a woman is in God’s will, if they are meant to be, there paths will intersect in God’s time. We should faithfully wait upon God until that happens. Focusing on the harvest because God will give a helper.

The sixth principle is that man and woman are made for kinship and companionship. Genesis 2:23 says. “Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” This is the first poem man said to woman. It signifies that the man is celebrating his wife because of her companionship. Before the fall, they would have eternity spent being together. However, after the fall, we just have a lifetime of companionship with our future partners. Though that is the case, it is really important to consider companionship in a prospective relationship. We can ask the question, “Could I see him or her as a potential bestfriend for the rest of my life?”

The seventh principle that I see in Gen. 2 is the principle of monogamy and marriage of between the opposite sex. There is just one man and woman – not man and another man or woman and another woman – in the picture. God ordained marriage to be enjoyed by two people who are fully committed to each other. That is why in 1 Tim. 3, it is of prime importance for the elder to be faithful to his wife or to be a one-woman man because it is a virtue expressed already since Gen. 2. Men would do well to strive to have a heart for only one woman. Sin easily creeps in and make our hearts adulterous and covetous. So, we should strive everyday, praying on our knees, to be this kind of man for our future wives.

The eigth principle is that when they get married they should be each others top priority. They are one unit now and God wants them to focus to that newly formed unit. That doesn’t mean they are to cut ties with their parents but it just means that there is a change of priority. Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Holding fast signifies commitment. A marriage relationship is a picture of the covenant relationship we have with God.

Displaying God’s glory through their marriage is the highest calling that married people have (Eph. 5:22-33) Wives should reflect the submissiveness and obedience of the church while husbands should reflect Christ covenantal, relentless, and sacrificial love by His grace and for His glory. This impossible task could only be done by God’s power through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to us when repent from our sins and trust in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross for man’s salvation. He lived a perfect life for our righteousness and died a painful death to take our condemnation. He is risen proving that He is mighty to save all who would receive Him as Lord and Savior. Jesus is the One we are aiming for. He is the last and better Adam who fully exemplified biblical manhood.

Personally, as I meditate upon these truths and principles, I fell short of it big time. That’s the reason why I wrote it. For me to be reminded that this is what I ought to be aiming now and in the future. Maybe, as you read of it, you have also realized that you have fallen short of it also. The good thing is that there is a God who wants us to depend on Him for enabling grace as we act out and strive for the designed roles that God have for us.

Thank you for reading. God bless!