SOMETIMES LOVE HURTS

One of the greatest things that God gave to man is love. It can take man to the highest of joy. The number of songs and poems written on the subject demonstrates how important love is in our lives. Someone has gone so far as to say that “Love is what makes the world go around”.

As great as love is, there is a down side. Some times love hurts. If you don’t believe me, just ask someone who has been dumped by their first love or a parent who has lost a child to an accident or illness. Those who go through such grief often find it hard to continue living. The reason for such emotional grief is love. Think of the grief of our Heavenly Father, when he “gave his only begotten son” (John.3:16). After all, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The fact that love can be the source of the greatest joy and the greatest grief is one of the greatest conundrums of all time.

Another reason that love sometimes hurts is corrective discipline. Most if not all have heard of a father who said, “This is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you.” Furthermore, most if not all have heard a child argue this point. The fact is, the father is talking about emotional pain and the child is talking about physical pain. In this regard, the writer of Hebrews stated, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:5-7).

Unfortunately, society (and even some in the Lord’s church) believe that physical punishment of a child is abusive and motivated by hate. The folly of this perversion of love is easily seen in the effect it has had on society (especially in our schools). Those who withhold corrective discipline really don’t love their child. In fact, all who are without corrective discipline are considered fatherless and not sons at all. Remember, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes” (Proverbs 13:24).

Yes, sometimes love hurts. Often that pain is unfortunate, but, at other times it is necessary. Don’t avoid corrective discipline because of the pain that it brings. Whether you are on the giving or receiving end, be sure that it is always understood that it is done in love for the greatest good of all.

Bruce Stulting

Mother's Day

Today is the day we mortals have agreed upon to honor the most wonderful human being in our lives—our sweet, precious mother. There can be no reasonable doubt but what God wants us to love, honor, and cherish our mothers (Ephesians 6:1-3). While every day should be Mother’s Day, we certainly are not opposed to setting aside one particular day just for her. As a matter of fact, we think it is a splendid idea. Let us make sure our mothers know how special they are and how much we love and appreciate them. Let us do something really special for them on their day.

No one has had a greater influence in molding our lives than our mothers. Someone has determined that from the time we are born until we are twenty-one we are awake 105,000 hours. We spend approximately 10,000 hours in the school room and 2,100 hours in Bible classes, which leaves 93,000 hours under the direct supervision of our parents. Since the father is generally the bread winner and a survey some time ago revealed that the average American father spends only seven minutes per week alone with his teenage children, most of those 93,000 hours are spent under the supervision of our mothers. Indeed the hand which rocks the cradle rules the world. Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. I remember her prayers, and they have followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”

One of the great characters of the Bible is the evangelist Timothy. One of the prime ingredients which made him a dependable servant of God was the influence of his godly mother and grandmother. For as far back as he could remember, he was taught God’s Word by these two very special women (II Timothy 3:14-15; 1:5). When young mothers decide they want to do something about the preacher and elder shortage in the Lord’s church, they can and will. They have control of a child’s life during the first six years, which are the most formative years of his life.

One of the tragedies of modern America is that so many mothers make up the working force. We certainly do not want to be critical of working mothers because some of them must work. However, if there is any possible way they could be with their children during those formative years, even if they had to do without some of the things they want, we would encourage them to do it. It is far better for mothers to be with their children during those years than it is for them to left in the care of a babysitter or a nursery attendant who only considers it a job.

Author Unknown

Children in Worship

One of our main goals in life is to help our children and other young people to become Christians who are faithful to God’s Word and active in His kingdom, the church. We want to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). We want them to know the joy of knowing, serving, and worshiping the Lord. Our children should be taught why we worship, how we worship and how to make our worship most effective. Here are a few ideas that will help us train our children to be good worshipers.

1.  Set a good example. Children need to see your worship and the joy it brings to your life. You need to come to the worship assemblies regularly with an attitude of joy and anticipation — not with a sense of drudgery or obligation. You need to sing, bow in prayer, listen intently to the sermon, give joyfully, and partake of the Lord’s Supper meditatively. Children will follow your example, so set the right kind.
2. Prepare the child. Before Sunday, talk to your child about how to act in the assembly. Tell the child why we pray, sing, give, partake of the Lord’s Supper weekly, and listen to a sermon. As you would in preparing him for school, make sure the child gets enough rest the night before to be awake and alert on Sunday.
3. Involve the Child. When singing, help him locate the page of the song. With your finger on his book, point to the words as we sing. Encourage your child to sing even though he may not always sing the right words. When the sermon is delivered, help the child locate the Scriptures cited and/or encourage him to write them down. This impresses upon the child the importance of paying attention. It also stresses that worship is active and not passive.
4. Avoid disturbances. Make sure that your child has gone to the restroom and for a drink BEFORE the worship service begins. Traffic in and out of the auditorium during worship is both unnecessary (with but few exceptions) and disruptive to the worship of many.
5. Sit up toward the front. Don’t follow the natural tendency to sit in the back so that the child does not disturb others. Think positively. Sit close to the front so that your child can see and hear what is happening. You’ll be amazed at how much better he will behave when you sit toward the front, and how much more meaningful worship will be to you too.
6. Follow through. Reinforce your child’s learning by discussing various aspects of the worship period afterwards.
7. Be patient. Children will not act like adults, but with patience and love, they can be taught to love God and worship Him from the heart.

Lester Kamp

A Perfect Day

Let us now think of a sweet perfect day
    And what it would take to make it that way
For me the issue’s not hard to explain
    Just a day filled with joy and free from pain
A day which affords me all that I need
    Time to spend with my loved ones, time to Read,
Time to tell others the grand old story
    And bid them accept the Lord of Glory
Time to reflect on how things used to be
    When I was a child, so pure and carefree
This day won’t cost money, not one red cent!
    And for it one never needs to repent,
Such days as this will help us on toward
    That perfect eternal day with the Lord!

H. L. Gradowith