Some extraordinary quotes from Heaven's Song: Sexual Love as it was Meant to Be" by Christopher West, pgs. 150, 152-154:
"Every marriage is a struggle to overcome the effects of sin on the human heart and to love as God intended in the beginning. And every marriage fails in numerous ways to do so. But for all of our failures in this regard, hope is not lost."
"...if spouses are to overcome lust and the certainty of death that comes with it (see Rom 8:6), they must open their union totally to the presence of the living God, to the 'Lord and Giver of Life.'"
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 Jn 4:18).
"The 'perfect love'...that casts out fear is not [our] own...." It does not originate in us.
"No sacrifice is too great for true lovers - no suffering too much to bear - when it is need to ensure the victory of good over evil, love over lust, life over death...This is precisely the perfect love in which every husband and wife are called to participate."
"...when marriage exposes a person's selfishness and sins it's doing what is it meant to do: bringing our sins and wounds to light so we can recognize them, confess them, and begin the healing process."
Wow! How many of us signed up for this when we took our vows?
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Saturday, February 04, 2006
The Case For a Marriage Amendment
The democratic process so cherished by our country produces laws and legislation to protect "natural law." Natural law is that law about right and wrong which we all inherently know. We are born with it. It's an equalizer among all of us - regardless of our faith, even if we've never step in a church. It's not what people already know, but also know that they know it.
We have laws that protect the natural laws of human relationships. The physical realm is the basis for this natural law of human relationships. Something that is physically unnatural cannot be made natural through some other means. And allowing natural law to be extended when the basis for the extension is of itself unnatural, is irresponsible. Given all this, how can anyone disagree that homosexuality is simply physically unnatural?
What else do we know through natural law? What we know is that it is unnatural for persons of certain ages to marry. It is also unnatural for persons of the same bloodlines to marry. Pedophilia is unnatural. We also know that children raised by homosexual couples is unnatural.
What is it we've been doing up until this time with this notion of marriage? Have we've been wrong? Have we now grown to a better understanding of a marriage union? Does a true union no longer need to be so exclusive? The issue before unfortunately is that what most of us found to be natural and inherently true now needs to be in print, in plain black and white. Because natural law is now under attack, a very organized one at that. We cannot think that this is going to go away. We need to act. To allow the current ambiguity to remain in our marriage statutes would be simply unnatural. Rarely does broadening a definition (or leaving it subject to intepretation that could lead violating natural law) ever improves anything. Ambiguity and subjectivity are our enemies. They are the loop holes of misguided tolerance.
We all know that life is a collect of tradeoffs and a series of cause and effect. Water evaporates off the surface of the ocean which creates clouds and leads to snow and rain. It's easy to understand this cause and effect because it's scientific. Saving money for college costs and retirement means less short-term disposable income. A commitment to an exercise program allows you to lose weight at the expense of some other activity. It's easy to understand these types of tradeoffs because they have a personal impact. There are always tradeoffs - either made or otherwise.
However, it's seems harder to recognize cause and effect as it relates to homosexuality. We claim it's personal. There are claims that it affects no one else. I do not condone the harrassment of any degree of persons who have freely chosen a lifestyle that I find unnatural. I believe people should be allowed to live and face their own consequences. Unfortunately though, while engaging in homosexual behavior is a personal choice, to state that is has no consequences is simply untrue and a lie. Just ask a marriage counselor, or a child psychiatrist, or a police officer, or an emergency room nurse or doctor. How many marriages have been ruined? How many children's lives have been impacted? How many people have died? How have medical costs risen? Sure, the same questions can be asked about divorce. But bringing that topic into this discussion is a only a distractor whose sole purpose is to derail getting at the real facts. Divorce has it's own set of problems which is another topic in and of itself.
We have laws that protect the natural laws of human relationships. The physical realm is the basis for this natural law of human relationships. Something that is physically unnatural cannot be made natural through some other means. And allowing natural law to be extended when the basis for the extension is of itself unnatural, is irresponsible. Given all this, how can anyone disagree that homosexuality is simply physically unnatural?
What else do we know through natural law? What we know is that it is unnatural for persons of certain ages to marry. It is also unnatural for persons of the same bloodlines to marry. Pedophilia is unnatural. We also know that children raised by homosexual couples is unnatural.
What is it we've been doing up until this time with this notion of marriage? Have we've been wrong? Have we now grown to a better understanding of a marriage union? Does a true union no longer need to be so exclusive? The issue before unfortunately is that what most of us found to be natural and inherently true now needs to be in print, in plain black and white. Because natural law is now under attack, a very organized one at that. We cannot think that this is going to go away. We need to act. To allow the current ambiguity to remain in our marriage statutes would be simply unnatural. Rarely does broadening a definition (or leaving it subject to intepretation that could lead violating natural law) ever improves anything. Ambiguity and subjectivity are our enemies. They are the loop holes of misguided tolerance.
We all know that life is a collect of tradeoffs and a series of cause and effect. Water evaporates off the surface of the ocean which creates clouds and leads to snow and rain. It's easy to understand this cause and effect because it's scientific. Saving money for college costs and retirement means less short-term disposable income. A commitment to an exercise program allows you to lose weight at the expense of some other activity. It's easy to understand these types of tradeoffs because they have a personal impact. There are always tradeoffs - either made or otherwise.
However, it's seems harder to recognize cause and effect as it relates to homosexuality. We claim it's personal. There are claims that it affects no one else. I do not condone the harrassment of any degree of persons who have freely chosen a lifestyle that I find unnatural. I believe people should be allowed to live and face their own consequences. Unfortunately though, while engaging in homosexual behavior is a personal choice, to state that is has no consequences is simply untrue and a lie. Just ask a marriage counselor, or a child psychiatrist, or a police officer, or an emergency room nurse or doctor. How many marriages have been ruined? How many children's lives have been impacted? How many people have died? How have medical costs risen? Sure, the same questions can be asked about divorce. But bringing that topic into this discussion is a only a distractor whose sole purpose is to derail getting at the real facts. Divorce has it's own set of problems which is another topic in and of itself.
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