relationships

We praise God for television. Through it Kenneth Copeland and others are reaching hundreds of thousands more people with the uncompromised Word of God than would ever be possible in a single church service. The television ministry is a tool to not only feed the Body of Christ but to also win the world to Jesus.

However, televised ministry should never take the place of assembling together with other believers under pastoral leadership. That is why Kenneth Copeland strongly encourages local church attendance over merely watching services on television.

At times it’s easy for us to forget how much God loves us and how much value we have in Him. When we lose sight of the greatness God has put on the inside of us, we can begin to make decisions based on a poor self-image. Those decisions cause many Christians to end up in bad relationships, having lost focus on protecting the special gifts God placed on the inside of them.

To answer whether polygamy is acceptable, we must go back to the beginning, before man sinned. The Bible says that when God instituted and ordained marriage, it took place between one man and one woman. When God created a helpmeet for Adam, He created one woman—not two, three or four—and He said that those two people would become one flesh (Genesis 2:21-24).

God has a work for each member of the Body of Christ to fulfill. As each one does their part, the work of winning the lost for the Lord will get done, and then Jesus will return and take us to be with Him for eternity.

Your spouse is an important part of this. We realize many times problems arise in a home where one spouse wants to actively serve God and the other does not. There seems to be no agreement and it is difficult. The temptation may come to give up and quit.

This can be difficult because the flesh has its own ideas! But Matthew 5:44 gives us a clear answer.

It’s easy to think that, but the truth is, you need the local church, and the local church needs you. Hebrews 10:24-25 urges, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (NLT).

The Bible speaks strongly and clearly against the sin of fornication, which is sexual intercourse outside of marriage. In fact, the Apostle Paul was strong in his writings about this (1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 6:18, 7:9; Hebrews 13:4).

When you’re married, you have the honor of knowing your spouse more intimately than anyone else. This means you know all their good habits and character traits, as well as the not-so-good habits and traits. You also know more about your spouse’s hopes, desires and dreams than most. For all these reasons and more, you have a unique prayer perspective that allows you to effectively stand in the gap for your spouse in prayer.

There is a difference between being attracted to someone and being in love. Feelings are fickle. One day you can be whistling a happy tune and pleased as punch with your significant other, then the next day they annoy you when they chomp their food at the table.

That’s why knowing whether you are in love is less important than knowing if you are spending time with the person God has chosen for you. This is a critical enough decision that it warrants prayer, fasting and listening for His still, small voice. He wants to help you with this important relationship!

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 that we are to avoid the very appearance of evil. Living together without being married gives the appearance of evil and therefore should be avoided. It suggests that the couple involved is willing to limit their commitment to one another based on current feelings, instead of long-term commitment based on God’s design for marriage and His laws governing the duration and nature of the relationship. It also invites great temptation for sexual immorality, which includes sexual relations before marriage.

To answer this question, it will help to understand why vows were instituted in the first place. Vows were instituted in Old Testament times in order to settle disputes because men were generally not honorable. Their own words were not sufficient to the other party in critical situations. So, due to their general lack of integrity, the making of vows was implemented.

With reports of success in cloning the first human embryo, many people are asking this question. The issue of human cloning is answered only by understanding human dignity.

The embryo that would be created by human cloning is a human being endowed with the right to life, a free will, a purpose and a destiny.  Human dignity is at stake whether the purpose of cloning is to create a human organism solely to destroy it for medical research, or to create a new form of human reproduction.

Submission has to do with order—not subordination. In the spirit world, there is no difference between men and women. In the natural realm, however, God has established a rank of authority in order to maintain order and avoid confusion.

Ephesians 5:22 says, “For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” This is not elevation of the man above the woman in importance, power, anointing or revelation. It simply means that in the home, the husband is the leader.

Hebrews 10:38 (KJV) says, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

The Bible is clear that believers are to live by faith. Like many people, you may wonder where faith comes from. Some people may believe that faith comes from tragic experiences in life or it comes from some desperate hope not based in reality, but that’s not what the Bible says.

Second Corinthians 6:14 instructs us, “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?”

We cannot express strongly enough how important it is to marry someone with whom you can be in unity and agreement according to God’s Word. Marrying someone who has not made Jesus Lord and Savior will pose more challenges for you than you may be thinking of right now.