Part Three<\/p>\n
Passivity. I almost didn\u2019t write about this\u00a0topic because I just didn\u2019t feel like it; I was thinking if I kept putting it off, you would do it for me.<\/p>\n
The primary complaint\u00a0concerning passivity in marriage comes from women whose husbands who have laid aside\u00a0the\u00a0leadership role in the household. Although he tends to lead everywhere else,\u00a0she laments,\u00a0he doesn\u2019t do\u00a0so at home. There are many underlying reasons for this, but passivity\u00a0on the part of\u00a0a man toward his God-given responsibility\u00a0can be extremely harmful to a healthy marriage. For\u00a0an excellent outline\u00a0about this, I\u00a0am including a link at the end of today’s blog.<\/p>\n
Since passive people, due to\u00a0their characteristic avoidance of conflict and\u00a0submissive demeanor, don’t create waves,\u00a0you might think\u00a0that passivity is\u00a0a\u00a0key to\u00a0godliness.\u00a0However, passivity toward God-given responsibility is a\u00a0primary cause\u00a0of ineffectiveness and unfruitfulness in Christian life.<\/p>\n
For example, you probably eat three square meals a day without giving a second\u00a0thought to the big bites of\u00a0your time that eating consumes. However, have you ever thought that feeding your spirit with God’s Word was too time-consuming? When\u00a0you can’t spare\u00a0five or\u00a0ten\u00a0minutes sometime during\u00a0the\u00a0day to read or meditate on the\u00a0Bible,\u00a0you\u00a0just might be spiritually passive.<\/p>\n
“Seven days without prayer makes one weak” flash\u00a0signs in front\u00a0of many churches.\u00a0Corny? Yes. True? Yes, again. But when you can’t seem to\u00a0find the time\u00a0to communicate\u00a0with God, you just might be spiritually passive.<\/p>\n
Jesus called you, His disciple, the salt and light of the world. The salt in you\u00a0was not meant to rest forever\u00a0in the shaker; your light was never meant to sit permanently idle under a barrel.\u00a0No matter how thrilling it is to hear testimonies of souls won, lives changed,\u00a0and prayers answered, those miracles didn’t occur without the salt being poured out first or\u00a0with the\u00a0light still turned off.\u00a0In every case, someone rose up out of passivity and lived boldly, spoke freely, or prayed fervently. God used someone’s salt and light to perform His wonders.<\/p>\n
With\u00a0the world squeezing in against\u00a0you from every direction,\u00a0you can’t afford to live\u00a0 a passive life. You will never be able to address the\u00a0persistent\u00a0twisting and distortion of truth in our generation effectively with bland passivity or wishy-washy conviction. As the old saying goes, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.” Only by soaking up the nutrients of the Bible and by spending time in fellowship with your God on a daily basis will you find the ongoing strength, wisdom, and\u00a0power to face off with the assignments that God will send your way.<\/p>\n
Wishing the world would straighten up on its own won’t make\u00a0it happen. Wishing the rapture would\u00a0just\u00a0take place\u00a0now won’t make that happen, either. You are salt and you are light, and since the same Spirit that raised\u00a0Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He Himself will quicken\u00a0 and empower you to do all that He’s calling you to do. But He cannot do these things in you without your active cooperation.<\/p>\n
“‘Wake up, sleeper,\u00a0rise from the dead,\u00a0and Christ will shine on you.’\u00a0 Be very careful, then, how you live\u2014not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.\u00a0 <\/sup>Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord\u2019s will is.”\u00a0 <\/em>Ephesians 5:14-17, NIV<\/p>\n Stay salty and shine brightly,<\/p>\n Dorothy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For an outline from bible.org on the origins and effects of passivity in marriage, see\u00a0 https:\/\/bible.org\/seriespage\/passive-men-wild-women-part-1-genesis-31-5<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n