What is satified by love

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Permalink Reply by Pete on August 8, 2009 at 1:47pm

I don't know if it's correct to segregate genders by the stereotypical characteristics that often form a human's personality, as we're supposed to strive to be like Jesus since He was the 'ultimate human'. He knew He had authority, and that it wasn't His, He spent time with God getting to know Him, His heart, and His mind. He walked pace-for-pace with His Father and had the knowledge of certainty that when He stepped out in faith, God was there to do His part.

That confidence Jesus had in His identity within God allowed Him to be completely Himself. He was free to cry and weep and mourn in front of the religious leaders as well as give them their woes. He turned into a beast in the temple when he made a whip and ruined the flea market that was going on by scaring everybody off, but right after that, look at the compassion He had on the poor, sick, and maimed that came to Him!

A lot of guys don't have that kind of turnaround time with their moods. Personally, I'd lose my temper at one point and then it'd take me at least a few hours to cool off; plus...I'd like to go somewhere else if possible. That's only because I'm still working on recognizing myself the way God sees me; accepting the very fact that He loves me enough to extend Himself to me and bring me closer to Him based on the merit that He wants me with Him and nothing else.

For chicks...it seems like their problem is realizing their authority because (especially in church) they're taught to submit. Even to morons! So they're okay with being all emotional and vulnerable because they so frequently get walked on.

Notice how Jesus knew His authority, acted on it, and was comfortable/confident enough with who He was to also cry in front of the very people who would later crucify Him? If I knew somebody were going to do me wrong, I would, at the very least, distance myself from them. But He was able to walk so close to God that He would always be in the proverbial 'eye of the hurricane'. The safest point of the storm.

I think it's difficult for people to grasp just how much God does for us because so little of it is tangible. If we were able to see a list of all the things that God's come through for us on, our confidence level in Him would skyrocket! Too often we're focused on what we can see without keeping our spiritual senses alert enough hear God and what He's saying.

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Permalink Reply by Charles Atkinson on August 9, 2009 at 11:32am

Having read the books Wild at Heart and Captivating, I clearly see in scripture that God never sent Jesus to destroy our gender nor who we are as individual persons. The spirit of Christ is without gender, but how that spirit is expressed is through our individuality – thus through our gender as well.

Pastor Dave’s teaching on “Head Coverings & Women in Ministry” is an excellent one explaining the “silence” or “submission” a woman is to have toward her husband even when she is at church. This is not suppression as the world loves to claim. Nor is it male chauvinism. But rather it is being in a place of honor and yieldedness to the order and holy structure that was divinely established.

So it is a glorious thing to express ourselves through the gender God awarded us. Just as we see in Proverbs that the expression of wisdom was in the form of an attractive woman. There is a glory and strength to each gender.

All that being said, I come back to the real question. What is the part within us that longs to be connected to one another as a couple? Could we call it the “security gland”? Could we call it the “complete me organ”? Regardless, there IS something inside that doesn’t seem satisfied without the companionship of the opposite sex. Many have given up this hope due to the disappointments in life or a myriad of other reasons. But no matter how squelched or muted or overlooked this longing is, it remains within the creation of our gender.

Can this be satisfied by the presence of the Lord? Absolutely! But my desire is to expand this mystery. For there seem to be many people that journey through life unsettled by this longing. And I would like to identify it, so the process by which the Spirit brings satisfaction can be simplified.


However if that is my own assignment, let’s use the topic to discuss the other connecting elements.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Cook Dreyer on August 10, 2009 at 10:12am

SIDEBAR: I absolutely reject generalities when dealing with gender. The idea that men do not need to be told often that they are loved, appreciated and the like is highly laughable. How many men have complained that they do not feel loved or appreciated when they decide to commit adultery with another woman??????? Evidently proximity was not enough for them. Even though there are some unique things within gender some mentioned here are utterly ridiculous, untrue in my experience and frankly have nothing to do with the topic being discussed.

I think the comparison of a gal engaged and how we are to walk with Christ is a good one. It appears that the finality (from what I have heard from engaged women) is that when a man says they want to forsake all others and marry them is the idea that they know for sure that they are loved unconditionally (as much as humans can do that). They are safe to be themselves and know that the man will commit to love them through anything. The engagement speaks that the man wants to fully commit, love and cherish her. At some point that was revealed through words AND ACTIONS for a period of time. Because of this she is more than willing to respond to him without reservation.

However when it comes to our relationship with the Lord in most cases we have had years or decades of living life not knowing the Lord or in many cases learning wrong things about Him. This is the one difference I see in this scenario and a woman engaged to be married. When we allow Christ to be Lord of our lives we first have to understand what that really means. We also need to have revelation from the Holy Spirit about who He is and what God's word means. That also takes time spent learning and communing with Him. As that revelation unfolds and we see the truths in the word manifest in our lives we are more confident in who He is. The more confident that we are in our revelation of who He is the more we approach our relationship with Him with total abandon knowing He has our back.

I feel the pieces that make the difference is (1) knowledge of the one being trusted in and (2) knowing that trusted person cares for them without strings attached or demands for ultimate perfection.

Great post, Charles.

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