Wednesday, August 6, 2014

THE PRINCIPLES OF A LOVING, GODLY RELATIONSHIP – WOMAN TO MAN (PART 4 – VALUE YOURSELF)

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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who brings peace. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he entrusted the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, my very own, is for myself; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred!

Song of Songs 2:1, 8:10-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When you’re in a relationship, a woman who treats their mate in a loving, Godly way will always be complimentary, cherish the moments she has with him, and let him know how valuable he, never hesitating to let him know he is seen as a beautiful, priceless gift provided by God.

But in order to properly value others, we need to be able to value ourselves, don’t we?

Through my years of ministry, I have seen people shackled by the bondage of low self-esteem, sometimes brought on themselves but more often brought on by others through the course of relationships. These people were not treated as if they were God’s priceless gift but rather treated as if they were useless to the people they were connected to. Subsequently, they adopted a view that they lacked value because others devalued them so much. These are some of the saddest cases I have had to deal with.

Friends, we simply must not allow others to tear us down when we are so special in the sight of God, our Creator, the One who always looks past our imperfections and loves us perfectly even when we’re not, the One who will always value us, no matter what. No matter what others might say to try and defeat us, we need to always take stock in who we are as a living child of the God Most High and see ourselves as victorious through His Son Jesus who He sent to save us. Certainly, if we weren’t valued by God, He would have never done that. We can’t ever forget that.

In today’s scripture passage, we find Shulammite clearly proclaiming her wonderful qualities. Not only does she see Solomon’s great worth but she sees her worth as well. Look again at her words here:

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who brings peace. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he entrusted the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, my very own, is for myself; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred!

Song of Songs 2:1, 8:10-12

The rose, a symbol of love, and lily are two of the most beautiful plants known to man. They were during the days of Solomon and they still are today. Shulammite saw herself in this way, beautiful and esteemed for that beauty by others.

She also saw herself as strong, a wall standing strong and reinforced by a special love within her relationship. When we’re in the midst of a bond with someone who loves us in a Godly way, we feel secure and sturdy, confident and durable, resilient against the challenges of life because we know we aren’t facing them alone.

Finally, Shulammite viewed herself as a thriving vineyard producing wonderful fruit to be enjoyed by her keeper, specifically Solomon here. She wanted to give him her best, and do so freely and joyfully, because she loved him so very much. She saw her love as valuable and reserved it for the one who she wanted to share it with, the one God had blessed her with.

So as we close this devotion today, the word of God would ask any woman who is in a relationship today, “Do you see yourself as valued, priceless, special, and precious in My sight?”

No matter where you are in life today, I pray your answer would be “yes”. If you are truly in a loving, Godly relationship like Shulammite was, I know it will be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

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