Submission or you first love is at the heart of every God pleasing relationship.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:21

How to Date the Follower Way

Being a teenager is the time in your life when you transition from being a kid to adult. For many of you, that transition comes with experiencing dating (aka looking for the person you want to marry and practicing being in a marriage relationship.) The world has so many wrong ideas about dating and relationships, so it is good for you to look to God for guidance.

Gentlemen, God tells you to practice being the kind of husband who submits out of reverence for Christ. That means you do what is best for your potential future spouse. You practice faithfulness and sexual self-control by making sure you both save sex and anything imitating sex for marriage. It means honoring marriage by not living together until you are married. It means you make sure that you and your potential future spouse go to church together regularly. It means confessing when you did something wrong and asking for forgiveness. It means forgiving when your potential future spouse sins against you. It means showing the same love Jesus showed you by doing what is best for your girlfriend even though it comes at a sacrifice for you. Be the kind of leader in your relationship that is responsible for making sure your relationship is a God-pleasing relationship.

Ladies, God tells you to practice being the kind of wife who submits out of reverence for Christ. To be clear, that does NOT mean you do everything your boyfriend wants you to do. It means you support and help your future spouse be the kind of man God wants him to be. If he wants to be sexually impure before marriage, you lovingly but firmly say no. God thinks you are worth it. He gave up everything for you. He sent his Son who submitted himself to death on the cross for you. Help your boyfriend value you the same way. If he is not ok with giving up his sexual needs for you, he is not someone you want to marry. Dump him. If he does value you the way God does, help him be the kind of man God wants him to be by being patient and kind, supportive and encouraging. Forgive and ask for forgiveness. Submit to your future spouse by submitting to Christ first.

Love is not a romantic feeling. True love is submitting to each other in a way that would make Jesus smile when he looks at your relationship. That is how you date the way followers of Jesus date.

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, you gave up your life for me because it was best for me. Help me to show you first love and do what is best for those I have a relationship with. Send me your Holy Spirit to help me do this. Amen

What you gain on earth is temporal but what you gain in heaven is eternal.

“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Mark 9:35-37

For Nothing

There were two men. The first man was a worldly man. He worked hard because he had goals he wanted to achieve. He got a good paying job. He bought a big house. He always had a nice car. He bought a boat. He ate in fine restaurants. He wanted to be seen as a generous person so every Christmas he gave to a charity. He was very political. Every year, he and his college buddies would travel to Las Vegas for their annual fantasy football draft. He won the fantasy football championship four times. He never married but had a few girlfriends. He invested well into the stock market. He retired early. He traveled the world. He died. He was not a follower of Jesus.

The second man was a follower of Jesus. He worked hard but his goals were different. He got a good paying job. He got married and committed his life to putting his wife first. They had four kids. He never could afford a fancy car but he had the car that he needed. He couldn’t afford to eat in fancy restaurants or go on fun trips instead paid for diapers and Christian education. He turned down the promotion so he could spend more time with his family. He was in charge of the Sunday school at his church. He gave generous offerings to the Lord. He would invite anyone and everyone he met to church. Once he retired, he mowed the grass at church and the yard of his neighbor who was an older widow. He too died.

The first man gained everything he ever wanted but took nothing with him when he died. It was all for nothing. The second man was a servant putting others before himself. He did it all for nothing, not looking to get anything in return. He did it out of love for his Savior whom he followed and out of love for others. In the end, he gained everything in heaven.

Which man are you?

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, through your saving work on earth and the cross, you have made me your follower. Give me a heart that loves, not looking to get anything in return. Keep my eyes focused on heaven where you will give me everything. Amen

We are saved by the compassion and power of Jesus.

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Mark 7:31-37

The Word Not Dependent On Ears

This is one of Jesus’ coolest miracles.

You probably know the passage, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) So, what do you do if you can’t hear words?

This man most likely had been unable to hear since birth which means his life had an emptiness that is hard for us to comprehend. We hear words. We think in words. We speak in words. If you can’t hear words, you can’t think in words, let alone speak. He had no way to organize his thoughts into words. His world was one of silent emptiness.

But the worst part of his situation was that he had no way of coming to know Jesus. News about Jesus had spread, but not to him. Reports would have come in about the Messiah who heals and saves, but he would have no idea. Jesus could preach a perfect sermon, but he would never hear it. And if he can’t hear the Gospel, he can’t be saved, right?

Oh, the compassion and power of Jesus! He knows exactly what this man needs and interacts with him individually. He touches his ears. He touches his tongue. He sighs up to heaven. And using his powerful Word that is not dependent on the ability of one to hear or understand, Jesus opens his ears, gives him the ability to immediately speak plainly, and gives him faith.

This is who Jesus is and this is how he deals with you. He knows exactly what you need and interacts with you individually. When you were dead in your sin, his Gospel created faith. For some of you, when you were unable to comprehend the words of Jesus because you were a baby, he opened your heart and gave you faith through the Word connected to the water in baptism. Yes, Jesus is powerful. Yes, he has compassion for you. Yes, he loves you. What grace that Jesus used his power to make you his follower.

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, We thank you that you have opened our hearts by your Word. Give us the opportunity and the determination to bring those who do not know you to you. Thank you for the people in our lives who brought us to you. Amen