Growth Relationships

Spurred

We’ve all seen it.

It’s a classic scene in almost any Western movie.

→The vilian looks like they will succeed.

→The hero realizes that it’s up to him to save the day.

→He grabs his trusty horse, digs in his heels and gallups towards danger. Ultimately, it’s what brings about victory.

The reason, of course, that the hero digs in his heels is because on the side of the boots he’s wearing metal spurs. The spurs are designed to “encourage” the horse to go faster. They’re sharp and they’re pointed and they offer a lot of motivation.  They prompt the horse towards the correct course of action. The horse knows that if he wants to eliminate the pain, he must do what his master desires.

It’s that imagery that gave me a new appreciation for the command that we are to “spur” each other on to love and good deeds when one of our pastors pointed out the true meaning of the word.

Often I think of that word as being synynomous with encouragement. Which I guess it can be. But that doesn’t mean that the encouragement will always be pleasant.

It doesn’t meaning that our spurring each other on is limited to platitudes and Facebook “like’s.”

Sometimes we must spur each other on in ways that cause temporary pain.

→We must help a brother or sister in Christ realize how they’ve sin.

→We must prompt them to return to doing what their Master desires.

→We must show them how to run faster after Jesus.

And it may not be pleasant.

But we’re still called to do it.

So that they too, may experience victory.

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Relationships

Storybook Marriage

One of my favorite memories of my mom and dad came after I had moved into a new apartment. My folks had driven up to help me hang pictures – a job that’s hard to do by myself. It turned out however, that I wasn’t really needed for the task because my parents had long perfected the art of working together. As I watched them I was mesmerized as my mom handed my dad the tools he needed without him even asking. I was touched by my dad’s trust in my mom to know what was needed. They worked symbiotically together, each applauding and relying on the other one’s strengths to accomplish the task at hand.

It was a simple, yet accurate reflection of how my parent’s marriage functioned each and every day. They relied on each other, encouraged each other, and worked together to make things more beautiful than they otherwise would have been. This was who they were and this particular story is dear to me because it so accurately demonstrate the greater story of their marriage.

Since my dad’s passing I’ve had the opportunity to tell that greater story a lot.  People are fascinated by it. Perhaps that’s because a good marriage is an increasingly rare thing. Perhaps because it’s even more rare for children to not only recognize that their parents’ marriage was great, but to want to emulate it.

Their story always has three parts:

1) They loved Christ and were committed to serving Him.

2) Because of their love for Christ, they were committed to each other and reflecting His love in their marriage.

3) They raised up their children in the way they should go according to Biblical standards.

These three things are the touchstones of my parents’ lives. It’s what they invested their time in, what they thought about and what they worked towards. My parents would be the first to admit that they didn’t do this perfectly, but from someone who had a front-row seat to their marriage, I could tell you that more often than not, they did them exceptionally well.

And it’s because their commitment to each other and to their kids was grounded in their commitment to love and serve Christ that they can have confidence that not only will they see each other again, but when they do so, they will hear “Well done, my faithful servants.” And that’s the best type of happy-ever after ending that there is.

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