Let’s Give Some Consideration
Sincere love puts others first.
Today is Valentine's Day. This year, along with the cards and the flowers and the candy, let's give something far more important. Let's give some consideration.
It's biblical. We are told to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24). Not provoke in the sense of inciting to anger. But to call forth, to evoke. The New International Version translates it “spur . . . on.” The New King James says “stir up.”
Consideration of the other person will stir up love. It seems to me that a lot of relationships need that kind of stirring up. I wonder how much home life and how many marriages are suffering because of a lack of consideration.
Husbands love to quote Bible verses about how wives are to be in subjection. Their Bibles open readily to Ephesians 5:22. But they fail to see that the preceding verse says Christians are to be “submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” It also says that men are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it.
Do you really love your wife? Do you really love your husband? Do you really love your parents? Do you really love your children? Then show some consideration for them.
In marriage, consideration involves faithfulness. The person who commits adultery is thinking only of himself or herself. That person is forgetting vows made before God, forgetting the feelings of the spouse, forgetting the commands of the Bible.
Consideration means putting the needs of others ahead of our own. Selfishness says, “Me first. It's what I want. I have to look out for my own interests.” But Christian consideration thinks of
the needs of the other person and puts those needs first. It's not a popular way, but it's the way that pleases God.
Consideration involves kindness. A soft answer still turns away wrath. Have you ever thought about how many arguments among couples and in families are over totally insignificant matters? But deep hurts may come from them. If we practice being kind one to another, we can help to eliminate some of those hurts.
So this Valentine's Day, why not give some consideration to your husband, your wife, your children, your parents? It will make your home a happier place and you a happier person.
And it is the Christian thing to do!
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Pentecostal Evangel. It has been republished with edits.
It's biblical. We are told to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24). Not provoke in the sense of inciting to anger. But to call forth, to evoke. The New International Version translates it “spur . . . on.” The New King James says “stir up.”
Consideration of the other person will stir up love. It seems to me that a lot of relationships need that kind of stirring up. I wonder how much home life and how many marriages are suffering because of a lack of consideration.
Husbands love to quote Bible verses about how wives are to be in subjection. Their Bibles open readily to Ephesians 5:22. But they fail to see that the preceding verse says Christians are to be “submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” It also says that men are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it.
Do you really love your wife? Do you really love your husband? Do you really love your parents? Do you really love your children? Then show some consideration for them.
In marriage, consideration involves faithfulness. The person who commits adultery is thinking only of himself or herself. That person is forgetting vows made before God, forgetting the feelings of the spouse, forgetting the commands of the Bible.
Consideration means putting the needs of others ahead of our own. Selfishness says, “Me first. It's what I want. I have to look out for my own interests.” But Christian consideration thinks of
the needs of the other person and puts those needs first. It's not a popular way, but it's the way that pleases God.
Consideration involves kindness. A soft answer still turns away wrath. Have you ever thought about how many arguments among couples and in families are over totally insignificant matters? But deep hurts may come from them. If we practice being kind one to another, we can help to eliminate some of those hurts.
So this Valentine's Day, why not give some consideration to your husband, your wife, your children, your parents? It will make your home a happier place and you a happier person.
And it is the Christian thing to do!
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Pentecostal Evangel. It has been republished with edits.
