I’m reading a book at the moment called What Women Really WantNeed. It’s really good and addresses issues not just for women but things that we all encounter by living in the world. It has some really amazing stories by people who came to trust in Jesus to bring them back into a relationship with God.
Excellent points that were made include…
Contentment: “Imagine for a moment how ratings would plummet if Better Homes and Gardens became a five-minute slot called Perfectly Adequate Homes and Gardens…the assumption these lifestyle programmes are built on… life will be richer, fuller and happier when we raise our standard of living… As much fun as it is , it doesn’t ultimately deliver lasting contentment. There will always be the next thing I need.”
Stability: “If your foundation is movable, says Jesus1, then you are a disaster waiting to happen. So often we make the mistake of building our lives on sand masquerading as rock… The reality of death means that even our closest relationships are sand masquerading as rock… the woman [or man] who has reached out for the rock and taken Jesus’ words to heart has a foundation which is solid. It cannot be stolen, broken, or ruined in any way.”
Acceptance: “There are millions of people all over the world who cannot stand their own faces or even their whole bodies… The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.2” This is reassuring because we cannot impress God with our clothes and hair but it is also concerning because God can see the darkness in our heart. Not to worry though – Jesus who has no darkness in his heart at all has made it possible for God to look at our heart and see the perfection of Jesus. How?
Relationship: “With more than 50% of marriages ending in divorce, you would think that men and women would slip in and out of marriage with barely a thought, and as easily as we change our shoes… there is more going on beneath the raw statistics. There is hurt and pain… in [the] first marriage… they supported and loved each other perfectly… this is what we desire, what we crave for.” We try to find this kind of relationship in our partners but who can live up to that? God so intimately loves the people he has made, he describes that relationship like a marriage. He is the husband and his people is the adulterous wife. Rather than divorcing us he continually forgives us, hoping we will turn back to him.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for great marriages and relationships because that is a good thing to do and have, but in God we can have the perfect relationship.
I haven’t finished the book yet, I should soon though. It’s really easy to read and has something for everyone I think – it has plenty of things for me, and things I can see for other people aswell.
