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| Oswald Chambers, 1874-1917 |
This is from the blog Craig T. Owens:
Relationships That Will End In Disaster
"Most of the
suffering in human life comes because we refuse to be disillusioned. For
instance, if I love a human being, and do not love God, I demand of
that man or woman an infinite satisfaction which they cannot give. I
demand of them every perfection and every rectitude, and when I do not
get it, I become cruel and vindictive and jealous.
"Think of the
average married life after, say, five or ten years; too often it sinks
down into the most commonplace drudgery. The reason is that the husband
and wife have not known God rightly, they have not gone through the
transfiguration of love, nor endured through the discipline of
disillusionment into satisfaction in God, and consequently they have
begun to endure one another instead of having one another for enjoyment
in God.
"The human
heart must have satisfaction, but there is only one Being Who can
satisfy the last aching of this of the human heart, and that is our Lord
Jesus Christ. That is why He is apparently so severe in regard to every
human relationship. He says if we are going to be His disciples,
occasion may arise when we must hate both father and mother, and every
closest tie there is. Our Lord has no illusions about men, and He knows
that every relationship in life that is not based on loyalty to Him will
end in disaster."
You cannot change another person; only God can. You cannot find ultimate satisfaction in another person, because you were designed to find your ultimate satisfaction in God alone. Intimate human relationships do have some value—
- They are meant to be nourished by God love.
- They are meant to reflect God’s love.
- They are meant to draw others into God’s love.
Contrary to Common Sense
