Thank you, dear Kim, for sharing your truth... and peace to you, luv - indeed, may you ALL have peace!
Please note, that when our dear Lord said to dear Armand (peace to you, dear brother!)... he wasn't just saying to love him more. As in increase your love for him. Please note that although I shared:
Quote:
You will notice, he did not include husband or wife. Why do you think that is? We can know: because a husband and wife are ONE, in JAH's eyes, and thus in Christ's. And so we can KNOW that if we follow HIM... the "other half" of our flesh will, TOO, to the extent that person considers themselves indeed our other half (they may not but may, unfortunately, allow themselves to be used by the Adversary as yet another source of opposition - Job 2:9
And so just before that he also said:
"I have come to turn
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household." Matthew 10:35, 36; Micah 7:5-7
He did NOT say he came to turn a man against his wife... or wife against her husband.
and such is TRUE... he actually meant that we must love HIM... MORE... than we love ANYONE else! Hence, even having
greater love for one's spouse than for him can be detrimental, as well, for Luke wrote:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26
I did not include Luke's version at that and I don't know why except perhaps because of the word "hate". The Greek word,
miseo, does mean "hate," "despise," "detest," etc., but in a negative connotation. I thought there were some who truly wouldn't grasp what was meant and either treat their spouses poorly or perhaps even turn away.
But that is not what our dear Lord meant, indeed, it couldn't have been and we should know it for as Paul asked, what man hates his own flesh? Of course, there are men that DO hate themselves... and project that self-hatred onto their wives, yes... but not a man joined to Christ. For Christ showed us how to "walk" and love wouldn't allow such conduct.
But that is what the copyists thought he meant (due to their own view of women - remember, Jews of that time didn't well-regard women and the Romans even less, unless they were pregnant, due to their worship of fertility/motherhood). And so, they misinterpreted him so that they could teach it... and for those who "hate" themselves AND/OR their wives, it's actually quite convenient (which is why so many so-called "christian" men... who are not but really just insecure in themselves for some reason... have treated their wives horribly - like children or worse, sometimes even worse than dogs! - over the millenia since our dear Lord was here. Add this to what Paul wrote and men misinterpreted, misunderstood, misused... and what value could a wife EVER have to a "man of Christ"???
If any of these
knew our dear Lord, though, they would know that what Luke wrote (and our dear Lord
meant) was the same as what Matthew was saying: in essence, if we love ANYONE
more than we love him, we are not worthy of him. If we claim to be following him, coming to him, and we love
ANYONE...
MORE... than we love him, then we're not really his disciple. We "
cannot" be.
And, this is one reason why women weren't (couldn't be) chosen as apostles (something I asked a very long time ago, due to the verse about the women being "a large army" - but why not apostles??) - because in our need to BE "loved" we will (usually) put our husbands and children above everybody and everything else. Well, most of us (there are some women who have no natural affection, even for their own children). And so, given the Roman occupation, the risk was just too great - if brother would deliver up brother, imagine what a sister would do, if her children were threatened!
But the bottom line is who DO you love... and are you SURE? If you are sure, then that love would be the same for Christ as I shared with regard to someone "attacking" our loved one (husband, child, etc.). Do you freeze and let him (Christ) be attacked... because of your fear ("Well, I know what they said is not TRUE, but, well... what can "I" say?")... or do you call upon your love... and your faith... and fight the Attacker?
Is it important? Depends on how you understand
Revelation 21:8.
Peace to you all and to your dear households (and missing dear Ataloa!) -
YSSFS of Christ,
Shel