On Sunday, Pastor Larry spoke on the topic of obedience and Maturity in Part 2 of the Family Matters series.
I Peter 1:22 NKJV “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently [on fire] with a pure heart.”
Pure love is the love that our Father in Heaven models towards us; not the perverse or tainted, conditional human “love”.
Fervent, mature love requires purifying your soul in obedience
Your spirit was purified immediately and spontaneously by the Holy Spirit when you were born again. The Blood of Christ washed and regenerated your spirit. Obedience of the soul is a daily exercise…
Your soul is composed of the mind, will, and emotions, and that must be brought into obedience to achieve maturity.
- Mind: Your thought centre.
- Will: Your decision centre.
- Emotions: Your processing and feeling centre.
Obedience and maturity of the soul happens through understanding Christ’s love and allowing it to work in your heart and life!
Romans 8:38 in the Passion Translation says, “So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love.”
WE are whole because of who WE are IN CHRIST. We must learn to walk that out daily with His HELP!
OBEDIENCE IS THE RESULT OR RESPONSE TO GOD’S LOVE AND AN EXPRESSION OF YOUR LOVE FOR HIM! We’re equipped to do that by understanding God’s love.
Maturity Means Taking Responsibility
John 14:15 NKJV says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
Obedience is the first mark of maturity! An inability or unwillingness to take responsibility for your life, choices, and obedience is an act of immaturity. It’s narcissistic.
God’s vision is world wide revival and His mission is to restore mankind and the family unit.
Genesis 2:18 KJV says, “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.”
God made Adam a helper (help meet):
- The Hebrew is ˁēzer kĕnegdô עזר כנגדו “helper equal to him, companion” (Gen 2:18,20).
- KJV English had it as “help meet for him,” where “meet” means “equal to.”
- Other translates include “an aid fit for him, alongside him, corresponding to him.”
God intended a helper as something beautiful that is part of your purpose; someone who surrounds, protects, or aids you, working in harmony with you to become the most effective version of who God created you to be.
The Holy Spirit is referred to as the HELPER in the Bible.
In marriage (a spiritual partnership), a man and woman each fulfills their own unique, God-ordained role within the marriage union. Women were fearfully and wonderfully made to fulfill the role of a woman.
The Bible is Rhema (God’s word), which is unchangeable. We have to rely on the Holy Spirit to help us change from the inside and walk in obedience. We must allow our will to align with God’s will for our lives, just as He commands us to submit within marriage.
Ephesians 5:22-33 NKJV says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.”
God commands us to model the marriage union on Christ’s relationship with His Church. He shows us the significance of this union, which is why satan and the world will do everything to undermine it!
Rule #1 for Marriage Maturity: Hallow Your Spouse
God shows us how to fight attacks against our relationships based on Jesus’s instruction on how to pray. Matthew 6:9 NKJV says, “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”
We have to hallow our relationships. What does that mean?
- Hallowing a relationship means believing in the relationship and in your person; to acknowledge, reverence, and respect the person. We have to purify the relationship internally.
- It starts by acknowledging that family and relationships are God’s idea. Ask Him to help you understand this reality for yourself!
One of the words for hallow in Biblical Greek is “Hagios”, which means “holy” or “saint”. Hallowing your relationship means to separate from common conditions and use! Therefore, you should protect your relationship by loving the other person and respecting them.
Honor and maturity is knowing and doing what is spiritually or morally correct.
Respect is both a noun and a verb
As a noun, respect is a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something, based on their abilities, achievements or qualities! You look at them through the eyes of Jesus.
As a verb, respect means that you have due regard for someone’s feelings, wishes and rights.
Respecting someone doesn’t mean that you have to always agree with the other person. You won’t always agree with your person, but you have to respect them.
KEY POINT: Honor and respect requires maturity (the acceptance of your responsibilities in life). It means doing the right thing, even if you disagree with the person. You must be the catalyst for honor and respect.
Missed Part 1? Click here to watch it.
