The Great Investment by T. D. Jakes
Author:T. D. Jakes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
In my twenty-three years as a counselor, I have spoken with countless couples as they approach their wedding day, and the expectations they bring with them are unbelievable. And I have found that it is not only their experiences that color their expectations, but also a combination of barbershop bragging, beauty parlor ramblings, and television dramas that give rise to a conglomerate of ideas that have no basis in reality. They look at marriage through lenses formed by all the places theyâve been, all that theyâve done, and the people theyâve met along the way.
Now, as a Christian, I espouse the ideal put forth by my Maker in the most holy of manuals, the Bible. As a preacher, I encourage my congregation to be pure in body, mind, and spirit. But as I stand at the pulpit and look out into the faces of the people who fill our churches, I must be a realist. As a servant of God, I must minister to those in need. I can encourage ideals, but I must operate in the realm of reality. It is important to help the pure remain pure, but there is a great deal of material devoted to the teaching of Christian virtue. Instead, I would like to talk to those who find themselves in their second or third marriage. I would like to address the so-called âreal peopleâ who have had secret experiences, molestations, traumas, abuses, and early promiscuities. It is to them that I direct this message, for they will need constant care in order to rebuild what life has torn away from them.
Happily ever after is found in childrenâs storybooks, but not in many homes.The majority of people are scarred and damaged. They struggle to make the ideal work within the limitation of their realities. Our lack of instruction to them has not helped their cause. Our silence to them has left them adrift in a sea of escalating divorce rates and broken hearts. Well, I say it is time to throw them a lifeline. It is time to break the silence and be real.
As we stand on the threshold of the twenty-first century, our challenge as Christians is to maintain our commitment to Godâs standards and ideals while building a bridge whereby faith and biblical wisdom will become accessible to those who are steeped in reality.The only way we can do this is to season our ideals with the grace of God. If we fail to do this, we fail a generation.We lose them and leave them feeling hopelessly left out.We need to realize where they are coming from, and only then can we show them the way.
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