Inspirational

Dear Friends, 

Thank you for your love and your support. May God bless you for your generosity and your sacrifices. 

In one of our subjects, Christian Marriage, we were asked to reflect on the book The Marriage Builder by Larry Crabb. The book highlights two elements that are absolutely essential in a marriage that God intends to be: (1) the security of being truly loved and accepted, and (2) the significance of making a positive and lasting impact on each other. One significant truth that struck me as I read this book is the connection between my commitment to my wife, and my awareness of the goodness of God. I realized that the basis for an unwavering and joyful commitment is to trust that God is good, and the reason for lack of joy in marriage can be traced to a lack of awareness of the goodness of God. This implies that if I honor my commitment as a husband with an attitude of reluctance and grudge, I am not honoring my commitment at all. 

Another important reality that is relevant to my own marriage is realizing the difference between accepting my wife and enjoying my wife; the former is a requirement, the latter is a blessing. I also realized that accepting wife depends upon my work of forgiving her. This means that I need to accept my wife whether her behavior is enjoyable or not.  Since accepting my wife is tied to my decision to minister to her and not manipulate, thus I can choose to accept my wife and forgive her regardless of how I feel about her. To accept my wife does not require that I enjoy everything she does.  To accept my wife means remaining faithful to my commitment to minister to her, willing to be hurt, and forgiving even when she offends me. I learned that it is possible to have a meaningful, enjoyable and lasting marriage in spite of all our imperfections and sinfulness because the grace of God is able to heal and restore all defects caused by sin. 

I am praying for a possible teaching and pastoral ministry after my seminary training. Please pray with me as I seek God’s directions. I am grateful for all your assistance as I go through a season of equipping and preparation for ministry. Thank you again for all your help. God bless you.    

Sincerely yours, 

MICHAEL R. CARIÑO

International Graduate School of Leadership 

By Michael R. Cariño    

Quit trying to fool people and start being sincere.

1PETER 2:1           

     A friend of mine once lamented to me, “I am sick and tired of trying to fulfill other people’s dreams and expectations. All I wanted is to be “me”. I don’t want to pretend or hide behind a mask anymore. But more than the fear of being rejected and the pain of being unloved, my worst struggle is I don’t know who I really am.” 

     We all live in a messed up world where people’s opinions, approval or rejection define who we are. We tend to wear masks that hide our broken and damaged “self” so we can look more acceptable and attractive to others.

      This phony self lives emotionally distant, socially pretentious and relationally suspicious, unable to give love and receive love. We struggle with shame, self-pity, loneliness, and isolation. We feel unwanted and unworthy to be loved, dependent on approval, accomplishments, status, appearance and recognition in order to feel significant.

      What people think and how well we perform do not define who we really are. Only God defines our identity. Our Maker knows who we really are for He created us in His image.

       The world says, “I am rejected, worthless and boring”.  God says, “I am loved, special and interesting”. You are significant and wonderful in the sight of God. You don’t have to live your life by what others say. All you need to believe is what God says about you.

REFLECT:

The Bible says that if you belong to Jesus you are God’s child (John 1:12), God’s temple (1Corinthians 3:16), God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), God’s property (1 Corinthians 6:20) and God’s friend (John 15:15). This means that you are SIGNIFICANT, SECURE, and ACCEPTED because of WHO you are in Christ. You no longer have to please people or pretend to be someone you are not. You are now free to be you.