1 Thessalonians

I stumbled across a couple of really cool things last week in God's Word and felt I should share it with people. Like I do.
I was reading in 1 Thessalonians and came across a familiar verse about how we would not be "in passionate lust like the heathen." The full verse says "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God." Here's where I break it down:
I noticed for the first time the footnote associated with the phrase "control his own body." In other manuscripts it translates "live with his own wife." In still other manuscripts it translates "acquire a wife." Using that last translation, the verse says that it is God's will we should "learn to acquire a wife in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust." This perplexed and encouraged me. It correlated nicely with what my small group was talking about on Wednesday about how we are to live apart from this world, we are to stand up and stand out from this world system. So what does it mean to seek a spouse in a holy and honorable way, not in passionate lust? The world tells us that when a person catches our eye, we start going out with them to see if we are compatible, giving our hearts away first, then seeing if they are worthy. Then, eventually, we ask God if we're supposed to marry them, or we see they are not right for us and we break it off, trying to reclaim as much of our heart as we can get back, and moving on to see who else is around that might be right for us. This constant trial and error leaves us tired, jaded, a wilted flower. It's not fun, it's not romantic, it's certainly not holy nor honorable. So why do we keep doing it? What drives us? I hurt for these hurt people. I'd give anything to save them the strife and pain.
That's what I've got. A social commentary that burdens me day in, day out. I don't have a magical solution, because the only real solution is for you to want to be different than the robots of this world. Know that there is a different way, but I can't force it down your throats (believe me, I've tried).
Just something that's really on my heart, feel free to comment or ask questions.

With all the love Christ lavishes on me,
~Jennifer~