#love – Page 126 – Instructions To A Young Life

The Results of a Great Life

Great lives are rare but when you are around a great life you often are aware of it and it has a profound effect on you. If you can’t be around a great life then read books and stories of great lives. You will always learn something and will be blessed, that is, if you want to become great in this life. The Lord tells us not to seek it but He does want us to seek to be more like Him and in doing so, we will live a great life.

Jeremiah 45:5a But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them;

Seek great things for God and for His glory and you will see Him. He does great things and wonders without number. When you see His greatness then you will worship Him.

Job 5:9 Who does great and unsearchable things,
Wonders without number.

Those who do truly great things will acknowledge that it is the Lord that has done these great things and that apart from Him they can do nothing great. The great things that God does are good and they are righteous and true.

Psalm 71:19 For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?

The Lord’s lovingkindness and His truth go before Him. When we exhibit these qualities of Christ then we will see Him work and do even greater things. There is no revival apart from His Word, which is His truth, and His love. When we walk in the truth of the Lord and we love like He has loved us then we will be the salt and light that He has made us to be. Love without truth will mislead and truth without love will not lead. God’s work done in God’s way will change a life and will change a city and will change a nation. The results of a great life will be change for the good.

Psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.

Often we don’t know and can not verbalize the truth and the same with love but when we see it then we recognize it and will sometimes say, “that is good”. Those who are great will exhibit love and truth and it will have a compounding ripple effect. There is something within us that wants to be good. Many people will say, “I am basically a good person” and when parents are asked about what they want for their children they will say that they want them to be good. Parents will praise their children for being good. We want to be good and we want those around us to be good.

Proverbs 27:19 As in water face reflects face,
So the heart of man reflects man.

When we see someone who is truly good then we want to be like them and we realize that we really are not very good at all. A great person will have a good heart because the Lord has given them a new heart and they have been faithful to nourish what the Lord has done in their heart. A person with a good heart will reflect our heart because their heart is pure. For this reason a person who has a corrupt heart will not reflect our heart but will rather deceive us and make us feel good about ourselves so that we will say, “I am not so bad after all”. The Lord tells us to stay away from people with a bad heart because they will ultimately corrupt us. Bad company corrupts good morals, as the Scripture tells us.

Luke 8:8 Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

A great life will have an honest and good heart. They will hold fast to the Lord through His Word and will do what it says. They will bear much fruit and that fruit in turn will bear more fruit.

Luke 8:15 But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

The effects of a great life are very far reaching through many generations. Usually behind a great man is a great wife. Sometimes a great life is public and sometimes it is more in the background. Often a great mother will have great children and there is not much in life as influential and powerful as a great husband and a great wife who become parents and have children. Great parents will instill greatness in their children through seeing the greatness of God. Great parents will love God and His Word and will be characterized by their love for one another and their love for others.

Psalm 112:1-4 How blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who greatly delights in His commandments.
His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
Light arises in the darkness for the upright;
He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.

How blessed is the person who learns to fear the Lord and who greatly delights in His Word. His children will be become great and will be blessed. True wealth and true riches are in his house and he will do what is right. He will have the light of Christ and will be a light to others. He will show love and truth in all that he does. This is what it means to be truly great.

A Life with Love Has an Absolute

There is only one absolute in life and in the world. The word absolute means: perfect, pure and outright or unmitigated. It is because of this one absolute that we have security, knowledge, love, hope, wisdom, understanding and every other good gift in life. This absolute is also the anchor to our soul. When we lose sight of this absolute then we struggle with anxiety, panic, doubt, control issues and every other thing that brings chaos to our lives and world.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast Hebrews 6:19a

God is the only absolute in life and in all the world. Life will change and the world will change but God will never change.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is God, the very Son of God, and it is through Him that we know God. No person has ever seen God, but Jesus Christ is the exact representation of God, the Father, and the one who knows Jesus Christ will know God.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:1-3

Jesus Christ is the greatest expression of love because He, being God, Himself, came down to earth in the form of a man, lived a pure and perfect life, died for mankind, was buried and rose again from the dead and ascended back into heaven.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:3-8

Love is an absolute because love is an attribute of God. God is love and He expressed His love fully through Jesus Christ. Since God never changes then He is, has been and always will be love. When we have God then we will forever have love and it is a love that will never change. He won’t love us one day and then not love us the next day. His love is not fickle nor is it dependent on me. God loves because He is love. We can only know personally and experientially the love of God through Jesus Christ. Otherwise, apart from Jesus Christ, we are limited in only knowing about the love of God. We will see God’s love in nature and in the universe but not know God’s love intimately until we know Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. John 14:6-11

We come into the world believing in God. God made us to be in relationship with Him. God is good, He is kind and He is loving. We have to turn our back on God to not believe in Him. The most that man can say is, “I don’t know if there is a God.” When we turn our back on God then we no longer see Him and believe in Him. Doubts come about God. When doubts come about God then doubts come about everything else in life. God is the only absolute and He and His love is perfect, pure and never changing. The Lord made us to live in response to Him. We know Him through His Word, which is who He is. When we respond to Him through His Word then our love for others will be perfect, pure and never changing. This is the only way that we can love others the way that God loves us.

but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. I John 2:5

The one who loves is the one who knows God through Jesus Christ. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. I John 4:8

The only way we can truly know love and love others is when we experience God’s love for us. Just knowing about God’s love is not enough. We must know intimately God’s love and we can know His love through His Son, Jesus Christ.

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. I John 4:9

When we come to know God’s love through Jesus Christ then God comes and lives within us. When He lives within us then He loves through us.

No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. I John 4:12

When a person has come to know the love of God then that one wants to love others. It is the Lord who loves through them and it is when the world sees God’s love in His people that they will see Jesus Christ in them.

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. I John 4:16

We love because God first loved us. If you want to find and keep love in your life and relationships then you must first find God.

We love, because He first loved us. I John 4:19

It is through love that the world will know who belongs to God.

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35

The one who believes in Jesus Christ and receives Him as their Lord and Savior will be the one who belongs to God and is His child and His disciple. The one who becomes His disciple through believing and coming to Him will know intimately His love. This is the one who will have found love and will keep love, not only in their life but in their relationships. This offer is to everyone in the world for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12,13

Receiving Him simply means turning back to God rather than turning our back to God, which we all have done at one time or other. Believing in Him means turning your face to God through Jesus Christ and asking Him to come into your life and be your Lord and Savior. He will make you the person that He created you to be and that is a person who will reflect the love of God to others. It is when we are loved and when we love that we are the happiest and most fulfilled. How sweet it is to find and know God’s love, a love that is pure, perfect and will never change. God’s love is absolute and the one who truly finds the love of God will not be able to keep it to themselves.

A Life with Characteristics of Greatness

There are certain character qualities that describe a person who is great. If you want to be great then don’t focus on being great rather focus on the discipline of your character. These characteristics described the life of Jesus Christ. He was not only God but He was fully man also. He laid aside His God powers and lived just like us, dependent on the Father in a life of faith in the Father. Jesus was full of faith. Another word for full of faith is faithful.

Hebrews 3:6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

You can only be faithful if you are full of faith. Faith is what pleases the Lord and He allows our faith to grow through His Word.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

There is no greatness without faithfulness and no faithfulness without faith. You must grown strong in your faith. Faithfulness is obeying the Lord in everything that He commands us to do and exactly as He commands. If we do this then we will be doing according to what is in His heart and His soul.

I Samuel 2:35 But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.

Faithfulness is related to walking before the Lord always. The person who the Lord makes great will have a consistent walk with the Lord. They will live and walk in His presence.

Proverbs 22:4 The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches, honor and life.

The person who is humble before the Lord will be honored by the Lord. However, part of humility is not caring about what the world thinks of you so this person only desires the praise of God and does not seek or even want the praise of men. The humble person wants the praise and honor to go to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:3-8 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The disciples argued about who was the greatest. They were just being honest because all of us to some degree are tempted to compare ourselves to others to see how we measure up. The truly humble people compare themselves to Jesus Christ and none of us measure up. Our humble and honest response will be “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Matthew 18:1-6 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

A truly great person will consider others more important than himself and will walk in humility and not be a stumbling block to others. This person will seek to serve rather than be served and will look to the Lord alone for praise, rather than to others. A great person will me misunderstood but their contentment will be in Christ alone. They will be characterized by faithfulness, obedience, humility and love towards others. The fruit of such a life will be that many will be blessed. A truly great life leaves a wonderful ripple effect where others want to be life him. It is the seeds of greatness in the lives of people that make a nation great. It is not prosperity or knowledge, rather these things lead to pride and arrogance. It is the knowledge love of the Holy One and living and teaching that to others that causes a family and a nation to be truly great. When a person or a nation returns to the Lord Jesus Christ then they are on their way to greatness and the world will be blessed.

A Life that Becomes Great

You must be taught by One who is great if you want to become truly great. Since there is only One who is truly great when we are taught by Him then He will lead us into greatness.

Luke 6:40 A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

You must learn to sit at the feet of Jesus everyday and allow Him to teach you His ways. When He speaks to you do what He says. He will speak to you through His Word and you will find that as you obey His teaching that He will teach you more.

Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

Faithfulness is what is necessary to become great. Faithfulness in the little things will bring more truth so that you can learn faithfulness in the bigger things. Righteousness is doing what is right. We learn to do what is right by doing what Jesus teaches us. Yes, when we become a Christian we receive the righteousness of Christ, since He always did what was pleasing to God, but He also tell us to do righteousness that we might represent Him to the world.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

As you allow yourself to be taught by Him then you will learn to practice righteousness and will become more like Him. As you learn from Him then He will also lead you. You will see that as you follow Him that He will also teach you to be a servant, for Jesus came not to be served but to serve.

Matthew 20:26-28 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

As you learn to follow Him and be led by Him then He will lead you into the good works that He prepared beforehand for you. He has made you unique and no one else can do what He has called you to do. He wants you to follow Him.

Matthew 4:19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Follow Him and you will be His servant and you will see His kingdom built. Your cup of joy will overflow as you learn to walk in His ways, do righteousness, love kindness, do good to others and see Jesus and His glory.

John 12:26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

Do you want to become great? Then you must learn to become like the One who is truly great. Jesus came to serve and those who follow Him, He will lead and will teach them to serve. All of our service to others is an expression of our service to Jesus Christ. Whoever serves Jesus, the Father will honor him and he will become great like his Teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ.

A Life with Love Must Be Preserved

Love is destroyed through doing wrong. Doing wrong brings pain and doing right brings happiness. We reap what we sow. Sometimes we reap immediately but more often we reap later, however, we always reap what we sow.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Galatians 6:7

When we reap what we sow then that is called judgment. Our actions are judged by their consequences and the consequence of our actions is the judgment that we bring on ourselves.

For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. Colossians 3:25

The actions that we do, whether right or wrong, come from our heart. It is also out of the heart that our words come. It is our own deeds and our own words that will judge us and the judgment that we receive will be without partiality.

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:33-37

The Lord gave each one of us a conscience which tells us what we should do and lets us know when we do wrong. We have within us the “knowledge of good and evil”. If we do wrong then our conscience becomes hardened and if we do right then our conscience becomes more sensitive. The word “violate” means to change and when we violate our conscience and do wrong then we are changed. When our conscience becomes hardened then we are changed and can no longer give or receive love like we once did. Love is the food for the soul and nourishes the soul and keeps it healthy. We need love. The Lord made us to thrive when we are loved.

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17

When we go against our conscience and do wrong, and not do the right thing, then we have sinned. The sting of death is sin.

The sting of death is sin, I Corinthians 15:56

Where there is sin, there is not only death to the soul, but there is death to the love which feeds the soul. In place of love there is guilt.

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Matthew 5:22

Sin brings guilt and death. Death to our soul and death to our relationships. Instead of love, with sin, we have guilt and death. Instead of oneness we have separation, first of the souls and then physical separation.

For the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23

Love must be preserved or it will not remain. Love is the sweet fragrance in the relationship. Love is the salt that preserves the relationship and keeps it from rotting and keeps it fresh. Love is what covers the multitude of sins that each of us commit, whether it is the words spoken, or the deeds done in frustration or the neglect that is easy to come into a love relationship.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. I John 4:7

The only way that we can love one another is if we have been born of God, or, in other words, if we have been born again into God’s family as His child.

All of have sinned and are guilty and separated not only from each other, but from God.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

When we give our hearts to Him then He gives us His heart, which is filled with His love and He loves through us. He takes our hardened evil heart which has brought, not only ourselves much grief, but pain to others through our words and our wrong actions. His heart is pure and good and He will love through us.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

It is His love that restores our relationship with Him and with everyone else. When we believe in Jesus Christ then we become born again, our sins are forgiven, our guilt is removed and we become God’s child and a part of His family. We will not be judged or punished for our wrongs, for Jesus Christ took our judgment and our punishment on the cross. We receive eternal life and eternal love through Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. John 3:16,17

God did not send Jesus Christ into the world to judge the world but that the world might be saved through Him. The Lord is coming again to judge all of those who did not believe in Jesus and receive Him but chose instead to go on in their own ways and continue in the anger and stubbornness of their hearts.

I, the Lord, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,” declares the Lord God.’” Ezekiel 24:14

Come to Him, if you have not done so, while you can and before it is too late. He will restore you and He will allow you to find and keep love. He will preserve the love in your life and in your relationships. Your wrongs will be forgiven, your guilt will be removed and you will be clean on the inside. You will thrive and your heart will be happy.

A Life that is Made Great

We can not make ourselves great because there is nothing within us that is good. Greatness comes from doing good and doing what is right and teaching others also. However, there is One who is truly great and He is the One who makes great.

Psalm 18:35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your condescension makes me great.

The word “con” means with and the word “descend” means get down. When God came down to earth to be with men and show them the way of salvation then He made us great by lifting us up out of our despair and hopelessness. The Lord alone is great and He came to restore man to the greatness of being made in the image of God and being called a child of God.

Psalm 138:6 For though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He regards the lowly,
But the haughty He knows from afar.

The Lord has regard for the lowly. He comes to those who realize their desperate need for Him, not just to get them out of the mess they are in today, but for eternal salvation which begins today and continues into all eternity. He came down to lift us up.

John 3:13-15 No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

What is the outcome of those who have been made great in this life and restored to a relationship with God? They will want to do good. Doing good works is the fruit of those who have been lifted up and made great.

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Good works is what we were created for in Christ Jesus and even these we can not do apart from Him. He has gone before us and prepared them so that all we have to do is walk in them. When we walk with the Lord then He will lead us into these good works. For doing good works is what characterizes the person who has been made great.

A Life with Love Honors Another

Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. Genesis 9:20-24

Noah drank wine and became drunk. Drinking wine is mentioned in the Bible as not being wise.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise. Proverbs 20:1

If you want to be mocked then drink wine and if you want fighting in your life and marriage then drink alcohol. Alcohol has destroyed more families and more lives than we will ever know. It is wisdom to stay away from it. The Bible also says that drinking wine is not loving.

It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. Romans 14:21

The word “good” means the highest form of love. Therefore, the highest form of love towards anyone is to not cause them to stumble. Wine is a stumbling block to many and you have no idea who it is a stumbling block until they have stumbled over it. The Lord has one of the biggest warnings towards those who are stumbling blocks.

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! Matthew 18:6,7

Noah lived a life of wisdom and honor and only did a little foolishness. However, it is his foolishness that is much remembered.

Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor. Ecclesiastes 10:1

His foolishness brought much pain and sorrow to one of his sons and one of his grandsons. Ham saw his father naked and went and told his brothers.

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. I Peter 4:8

Rather than covering his father’s shame, Ham made it known. Love covers a multitude of sins and love covers shame. Ham did not honor his father.

Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you. Deuteronomy 5:16

It did not go well with Ham because he did not honor his father. As a result, it did not go well with one of Ham’s sons. As a parent it is more painful to see your children suffer than it would be to bear the suffering yourself and especially if you are the cause of the grief. Love acts wisely and love honors. How important it is for parents to not allow their children to ever see them naked. When a parent allows this to happen then that parent is setting their child up for failure and making it more difficult for the child to fulfill God’s commandment to honor their mother and father.

All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness; Lamentations 1:8b

Also, it is neither good or wise for a young lady to allow any man to see her nakedness before marriage. It will cause the man to not have as much respect for her after marriage and many a man will not marry a woman once he has seen her nakedness. A woman needs to keep her mystique and a man needs for a woman to keep her purity. If a man wants a female to unclothe herself then he does not love her. A man who will abuse his wife is also a man who can not wait until marriage for the physical. If a woman will have high standards for herself and not compromise physically then the man will rise to those standards and honor her and treat her with love and respect.

Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk So as to look on their nakedness!“You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness. The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, And utter disgrace will come upon your glory. Habakkuk 2:15,16

The glory of a young man is his strength, whether it is his physical strength or the strength of his character. It is to his shame and disgrace to give his date or “friend” anything to intoxicate her in hopes of seeing her nakedness. A young lady’s glory is her purity and her beauty. It is a disgrace and shame for her to give to someone else what is reserved only for her husband and in marriage.

And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, Matthew 1:19

When Mary, the mother of Jesus, became pregnant with Jesus and was “with child” before marriage, Joseph, who was engaged to her and being “a righteous man”, did not want to disgrace her. Joseph did not understand that it was the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, who had appointed this to happen. It was not until the angel came to him in a dream and let him know that the Messiah was coming into the world through Mary, did Joseph understand that Mary was still a virgin and had remained faithful and pure. Joseph had to have felt hurt and betrayed, however, righteousness is doing what is right in God’s eyes, and Joseph knew that the “right thing to do” was to not make known any shame and disgrace. Joseph not only loved Mary but he loved the Lord and wanted to do what was right. If someone wants a good marriage then they must have a godly marriage and a godly marriage is doing what is right in God’s eyes. Doing what is right is God’s eye is doing life, love, and relationships according to God’s design.

A Life that is Great in Life

If you want to be the great among people here on earth then you must do what is right and teach others also to do what is right.

Matthew 5:19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord gave us His commandments so that we might learn to do good to others. If we keep His commandments then we will be doing right in life and the outcome will be good towards all who we come in contact with in this life. When we don’t keep His commandments then we are doing evil towards others and the result is that we bring grief to others. When we cause harm to others we are the least in God’s kingdom.

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

The Lord has told us how to do good and that is to treat others right and to do it with kindness and not grudgingly and to walk humbly with the Lord. The only way we can live this kind of life is by God’s grace. Grace comes through humbling ourselves before the Lord.

James 4:6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

The Lord meets the one who wants to do what is right. The word righteousness means doing what is right.

Isaiah 64:5a You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.

Do you want to be great in life? Then learn to keep His commandments and teach others through your life, words and actions. The Lord will help you. He will meet you and give you His grace. Not only will He do these things for you but He will exalt you. You do not need to seek to exalt yourself. That is pride. Humble yourself before the Lord and seek to do what is right and He will life you up.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

There is none like the Lord. When He lifts you up then you will know that it is the Lord and He will be the One who ultimately is exalted for He alone is God.

Isaiah 64:4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

He alone is worthy of all honor and glory.

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

A Life with a Love that Can Be Restored

Love can be restored. All of us have failed at loving perfectly and when we do not love then our love relationships are hurt and damaged. When our relationships are hurt then people are hurt and when hurt continues then it breaks relationships and when relationships are broken then hearts and people are broken.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and He alone can give us hope when all seems hopeless. He saves those who are crushed in spirit. When our hearts are broken we must look to Him. He can heal. There must be healing for relationships and love to be restored. If we close off our heart because of hurt then we also close off our hearts to give and receive love. When we close off our heart and do not allow God to heal it then we also become bitter. Bitterness is unresolved hurt that feels like it just happened yesterday, when in fact, it occurred sometime in the past. When we are bitter then we relive the hurt over and over again. Bitterness destroys a person and also hurts those who are close to the one who is bitter. Bitterness creates loneliness.

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; Hebrews 12:15

Bitterness comes from not drawing near to the Lord in your pain and allowing His grace to transform you in your pain. Pain does change us and pain can make us more loving, sensitive and compassionate or it can make us bitter. God’s grace takes what could be bad and makes it good for those who love Him.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Once you are healed then your relationships can be restored. Sometimes pain comes from looking to someone to give you what only God can give you. Only God can give you eternal security, perfect love and total protection. Expectations destroy relationships. Even though a husband promises and makes a vow to God to love, protect and provide, a wife must still look to the Lord to be her Lover, Protector and Provider. The Lord will never disappoint her. We will always be disappointed if we look to anyone other than the Lord. He is the only One who can make the promise never to disappoint. Give your expectations to the Lord and allow Him to fulfill them His way.

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Romans 10:11

In the same way, a husband must look to the Lord. He must not have expectations of his wife, for he too, will be disappointed. The temptation is even greater for the husband to become bitter, otherwise, the Lord would not have given him a specific command to not be bitter.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. Colossians 3:19

For love to be restored those who have been hurt must experience God’s healing. For healing to occur they must look to the Lord. Expectations must be given to God. Confession to God and each other must occur. Cleansing of wounds must happen. In a relationship between two humans both people are at fault in some way. Both must humble themselves before God and before each other. Forgiveness must be given and received. We can and do forgive because God has forgiven us. Relationships and love can be restored in Jesus Christ because He forgives and He restores.

But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” Mark 14:29-31a

Peter failed in his love for Jesus. Peter denied that he even knew him when the test of his love for Jesus came. However, Peter was broken and allowed the Lord to restore him in his relationship with Jesus and Peter went on and became a faithful and great leader for the Lord. He ended up dying for Jesus out of his love for Christ and Peter was faithful to the Lord until the end of his life. His love and his relationship with Jesus was restored. The Lord can reconcile any broken relationship and restore the love in the relationship.

‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, Jeremiah 32:17

Your past failures do not define your life nor do your past failures determine your future.

A Life that is Truly Great

If you want to be truly great in this life then there is one thing that you must do and that is you must do good. Doing good is meeting the needs of others without hurting others in the process. The end does not outweigh the means. If the end is good but the means are not then you have not done anything great but rather you have hurt others. Doing good also will not take from someone else to do good to another. Doing good is kindness done to one with justice to all.

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Another way of saying it is that doing good must be done the right way. Doing good does not take what is rightfully someone else’s to give to another, even if they are in need.

Mark 7:27,28 And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.”

The Lord is constantly looking for someone who will do good to others. We all are looking for someone who is genuinely doing good.

Psalm 14:2,3 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.
They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

The beginning of doing good is to seek God for He is the only One who is good.

Mark 10:18b No one is good except God alone.

The Lord is looking for someone who will seek Him because apart from Him we can not do any good. There is so little good in us that none of seek God. We all seek after our own interests. Seeking God is a prerequisite to being truly great. Otherwise everything that we do will be for our own self and we can not serve ourselves and others also.

Matthew 23:11 But the greatest among you shall be your servant.

The more good we do and the more that we serve others, rather than ourselves, the greater we will be.

Matthew 18:1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Before you can be truly great on earth you must become great in the kingdom on heaven. The kingdom of heaven is here on earth and dwells within the hearts of the people who have received Jesus Christ as their King, for He alone is King of kings. He is our King and we are His servants. In serving Him we are to serve others and do good to them, just as He came and did good to others.

Acts 10:38a You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good

Do you want to be truly great? Then you must discover the needs of others and meet them through serving. This what it means to be truly great. God is the only One who is truly great and in doing these things you will be more like Him. Doing good is when God meets man once again.