The Art of Receiving

Last week we began looking at the creation of the first man and woman and how their relationship was based upon being made in God’s image. God’s relational nature (being 3 in 1) is the model of what He created in the bond of husband & wife. Add to that the beauty of being made as side-by-side companions (fashioned from a rib) and you have a beautiful picture of God’s intention and design for marriage. However, once you are married, then what? How do you build the intimacy God created your marriage bond to have and sustain a deep, abiding love through the rigors of everyday life?

The first step we saw in God’s plan is to RECEIVE our spouse as the gift of God they are and the artwork He has created them to be. Realizing their attributes that complement our own and rejoicing in how those differences make us better bring about unity and mutual respect that increases intimacy. Obviously, fighting against these differences and trying to change one another to fit our ways of thinking will hinder growing together. Just think about how many arguments or times of frustration with one another could be avoided if we learned to practice healthy receiving of one another!

A great illustration of how this works is found in I Samuel 25 where David encounters a man named Nabal and later his wife, Abigail. David and the band of renegades he has accumulated have been running from Saul and have spent some time hiding in the vicinity of where Nabal’s flocks have been sheared. At a time of celebrating the end of shearing, David has his men approach Nabal and ask for some food for his men as a sign of appreciation for the protection they have provided. How are they received? Nabal rebukes them and disrespects them. There is no appreciation in Nabal. He is stingy with the provisions God has blessed him with. He gets focused upon himself. All this leads to an escalation of great intensity. (Here comes the argument!)

David, feeling disrespected, vows to bring destruction upon Nabal and his household. (Amazing how a lack of RECEIVING can bring about such passionate feelings in a person!) At this point, Abigail enters the story. Having been told the way her husband rebuffed David and his men, she acts quickly. She prepares a feast of food for David and his men and goes out to meet him. She falls at his feet and asks him to accept her gift and to let God take care of Nabal, rather than taking matters into his own hands. She receives him with humility and respect and it turns David’s anger into praise for her and for the Lord who he says sent her to him to stop him from bloodshed. (Amazing how the act of RECEIVING someone with respect can shut down the anger that has built up within them!)

So, how did you do this past week with RECEIVING your marriage partner? How is your Love Dare going this week? Are you striving to develop better habits in the way you relate to that precious gift of a spouse God has blessed you with? James writes, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (1:22). In other words, put these things to practice and don’t just wink or nod at sermons that tell you about what to do to help you in your marital walk. You may be amazed at how this one basic action brings about such powerful results!

Click to listen to sermon.

-Scott