Friday, January 18, 2013
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I think I first remember hearing about it on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. And most people listening are going, "Say what?" Yeah, we're talking the 1950s, and it was a show that most teenagers watched. And I of course, was only two at the time. But it was predictable that a teenage show was going to have as their primary advertiser a company called Clearasil.
Okay, like every kid, my pimples looked like mountains to me, so after I heard about it on American Bandstand, I tried it out. Got a tube, got another tube, and another, and I hoped it would do the job. Well, American Bandstand is long gone, but Clearasil has lived on for many years, and kids bought it for a long time. I guess as long as there are blemishes, we'll be interested in some product that removes blemishes...or better yet, a person that does.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Emotional Clearasil."
Now, how do you get a woman so she is without blemish? No, no, not give her some cream to put on. I'm not talking about physical blemishes. I'm talking more about emotional blemishes - personality blemishes. We've all got them.
Well, Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 5, beginning at verse 25, and God is giving us here a parallel between how a man treats a woman and how Christ treats His people. Oh, and guess what it mentions? Blemishes.
Here's what it says: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other" - what's this? Oh - "blemish, but holy and blameless." The message? If a man loves a woman selflessly, he'll remove her blemishes. She'll be radiant.
See, an unselfish husband is like emotional Clearasil for the woman he's married to. Every man marries an imperfect woman, and it's a good thing or he couldn't be married to her, because he's probably at least if not more imperfect. And there are things that may frustrate you about the woman in your life. She nags, she's too bossy, she's not expressive enough, maybe she's too expressive - talks too much, she's demanding, she's impatient, or she's pre-occupied. Well, whatever the blemishes are, according to this scripture, you have as the Christ figure in your family, the power to change that over a period of time through your love.
See, when a woman feels like royalty, she starts to act like it. You won't change her by nagging, and yelling, ignoring her, name-calling, being harsh with her, attacking her, criticizing her. In fact, all you will probably do is delay the change. You change your wife as Christ changes us. And how does He do it? By patient, attentive, self-sacrificing, dying on a cross love. That means you listen patiently to her words and you listen to her heart. You give her prime time, not the leftovers of your time. That's the sacrifice. You praise her. You pitch in on her responsibilities. You give her some surprises. You court her. You treat her like a queen in front of other people.
See, you can tell the women who are loved like this. They're radiant! A woman blossoms in the love of a man who puts her first.