Week 8: Relationships

Lecture 1: 1 John 2: 3-6 - Know Him if we obey his commands; 1 John 5:3 - commandments are not burdensome.

- Commandment 1 through 4 is about how to relate with God. Commandment 5 through 10 is about relating to others. When asked, what is the greatest commandant, Jesus summarized by saying love your God, and love others as yourself (Matthew 22: 37-40).

- The foundation of all things are often based on relational issues. How you love God directly affects how you love others. To love is to take risks. How much you're willing to get hurt in order to show love is the depth of your love. ie. the cross.

Lecture 2: Matthew 5:21-22 - Even anger towards another is murder; Proverbs 18:21 - Power of life and death are on your tongues.

- The rice experiment: speaking love/hateful words brought about physical results.

- Renewing of the mind - Imagine when Cinderella got married, the day after on her honeymoon, did she go back to cleaning the house? That's all she knew previous to her transformation. We need to renew our minds and take every thought captive. We don't believe in the lies that we need to go back to our old ways. We're adopted in the citizenship of Jesus Christ.

- Taking offense is like walking in the middle of a bunch of hooks laying around and being yanked by them. When someone yells at you with hurtful words, rather listen to their heart. What they're really saying is, I need love!
"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead me to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison" - Nelson Mandela.

Lecture 3: 

- Sexual sins, like a steel rod, when you first bend it, it becomes easier to bend the next time. Also leads to other sins, to anger, bitterness, etc. God teaches us how to feel and master emotions (proper use of emotions). Be angry without sinning.

- Dating/Courting, principles fail when you're selfish in the relationship. The point is that when you're having a relationship with someone, you really don't know what to expect. It always goes back to if you trust God and who you are in your identity (Proverbs 3:5). Dating/Courting, in what I understand, is not the search for the best partner to make you whole, but is the search for the partner who you can best glorify God with together. (Some worship God best with a partner and some are given the gift of celibacy) 

- It's all about timing. For DTS, you don't proactively seek since it's time to devote yourself to learning. Also, if you're struggling with a sin, it may cause you to seek refuge in a relationship or other things as a substitute.

Lecture 4: 

- Jesus was said to be tempted of all things, but chose to live a sinless life. He was probably tempted sexually, but knew that it wasn't his calling to be married. He's saying, he has experienced it all and have overcome. He can help us because he can relate.

- How important is marriage? It is the building block of society. He could've made 1,000 people when he created us, but he meant for us to be a family. The enemy attacks by destroying family, the nucleus of this world, and one by one destroys society.

- Sex outside of marriage destroys trust. Dude said he had his needs, so the girl gave in before marriage. After being married, the dude went away for a business trip and she's wondering who's meeting his needs now? There were no typical modern day ceremonies in the OT, but sex was a form of the covenant of becoming one.