The Love One Another Podcast | Episode 15 - Faithfulness in Relationships

This is the Love One Another podcast from Beach Point Church.

Together, we're exploring the first letter to the Corinthians with the hope that we will be formed by the way of the cross and the love of the one who bore it.

Admitting, as the letter says, that we are nothing without love.

Love empowered by the Spirit through the work of Jesus is an unstoppable force.

It invites each of us to join God in the work of redeeming all things back to God.

With that in mind, let's open our hearts to God's word today.

Now for the matters you wrote about, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman, but since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but yields it to her husband.

In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his body, but yields it to his wife.

Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.

Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

I say this as a concession, not as a command.

I wish that all of you were as I am, but each of you has your own gift from God.

One has this gift, another has that.

Now to the unmarried and the widows, I say, It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.

But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

To the married I give this command, not I, but the Lord, a wife must not separate from her husband.

But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband, and a husband must not divorce his wife.

To the rest I say this I not the Lord.

If any brother has a wife who is not a believer, and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.

And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband.

Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so.

The brother or sister is not bound in such circumstances.

God has called us to live in peace.

How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?

Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.

This is the rule I lay down in all churches.

Was a man already circumcised when he was called, he should not become uncircumcised.

Was a man uncircumcised when he was called, he should not be circumcised.

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.

Keeping God's command is what counts.

Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

Were you a slave when you were called?

Don't let it trouble you.

Although if you can gain your freedom, do so.

For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord's free person.

Similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ's slave.

You were bought at a price.

Do not become slaves of human beings.

Brothers and sisters, each person as responsible to God should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

In this chapter, he addresses questions about marriage, singleness, and life circumstances, questions still profoundly relevant today.

The Corinthians were asking Paul about what should change now that we follow Jesus?

Should our relationships look different?

Should our status in the world shift?

Paul answers not with a list of social reforms, but with a deeper call.

Live in the way of Christ.

And that means learning to love in the shape of the cross.

When it comes to marriage, Paul paints a picture of a relationship transformed by sacrificial love.

In a world where men held almost all power and women were often treated as property, Paul says something radical.

Each spouse belongs to the other.

He calls for both husbands and wives to mutual surrender, mutual respect, and mutual love.

Marriage is not a contract for personal satisfaction, but a covenant of self-giving love.

One of the best pieces of advice I was given about marriage was to think of marriage more in terms of what I can give than what I will receive.

That slight shift in mindset changed everything.

It helped me think about the ways I wanted to serve my wife.

But it also called me into check when I started feeling entitled or demanding, when I thought I deserved something that was more about insisting on my rights than mutual love.

After more than 30 years of marriage, our best days and seasons have been the ones marked by this kind of cross-shaped love.

Not perfect, but faithful.

Not easy, but deeply meaningful.

That's the life Paul is inviting all followers of Jesus into.

Whether married or single, a life that doesn't begin with what I want, but who am I becoming?

And who are we becoming is shaped by the one who gave everything for us.

Just as Christ laid down his life for us, Paul is asking the wife to lay down her life for her husband.

But even more radically for his time, he's calling the husband to do the same.

It's not about authority or dominance.

It's about love that looks like Jesus, a love that serves, a love that sacrifices, a love that says, not my will, but yours.

Even more broadly, Paul reminds the Corinthians not to become overly concerned with changing their status.

Instead, he calls them to remain with God.

Wherever you find yourself, you can live out a cross-shaped life right there.

And that's the heartbeat of this entire letter.

In every situation, in every relationship, Paul is urging us to ask, how can I love like Jesus here?

In marriage, in friendship, in church community, and beyond, we are called to show we are Christ's disciples by the way we love one another.

Here are some reflection questions for today.

In what ways does your marriage reflect the world's values more than Christ's?

How might you practice cross-shaped love in your relationship today?

Through service, forgiveness, or sacrifice?

Whether single or married, what would it look like for you to remain with God in your current season?

How can our church community better support and celebrate relationships that reflect Christ's love?

You can find the Love One Another Sermon series and other resources at Beachpoint.com slash messages or on the Beach Point Church app.

May you carry the love of God into every encounter you have today.