Loving An Adulteress

by Tyler Zach




“Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is…an adulteress. Love her as I love the Israelites.” The book of Hosea contains this startling quote from God.

If I were Hosea I would have probably given a little “lip” back to God. Why in the world, if my wife cheated on me, would I take her back? Most divorces now days, and there are many (around 50% of marriages end in divorce) are caused over “unfixable differences” or a “falling out of love”. So, I would think that a wife cheating on her husband or vice versa would be a great reason for a divorce.

But God seems to refute this idea when He says, “Love her as I love the Israelites.”

Background information on the Israelites during that period of history: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery (4:2).”

And God wants to take them back? That is incredible. That is love that only God could generate. And it is the love that He is commanding us to have for our family members (wives, husbands, sisters, brothers, mother-in-laws, father-in-laws, etc.). Has any of your loved ones disappointed you lately? Whether they have lied to you, cheated on you, or have taken you for granted, God reminds us that love is not a feeling, but a choice.

“God isn’t interested in fleeting emotions we may feel toward Him. He wants complete commitment. There’s a vast difference between the “I love you’s” exchanged in the backseat of a car, and the “I do’s” shared at a wedding!” – Lawrence Richards

Since God has CHOSEN to love us - no matter how often we fall away from Him and disappoint Him - we must CHOOSE to love others in the same way.

The next time You are disappointed by a loved one, remember that God feels the same way when You do the same to Him - day after day. But, since love is a choice, He continues to love you anyway. Isn't that crazy?

This is why I have chosen not to tell my girlfriend "I love you" until we are ready for marriage. I want her to know that when I do tell her those three words - that she will not only have my emotions, but my committment to love her forever no matter what. Divorce will not be an option.

The Spirit Puzzle

by Tyler Zach



Maybe you don’t struggle with jealousy, but I do.

Before I was a Christian I used to struggle with getting jealous over peoples' possessions and popularity. Now that I’m a Christian, I get jealous over other Christians’ talents and personalities and oh yeah…the other things too.

Well, the jealousy over possessions is slowly diminishing by the grace of God, but jealousy towards other Christians always seems to be growing. In church, I sometimes forget about the sermon and start thinking how cool it would be to be so gifted at teaching. (Note: I hope that my pastor isn’t reading this – don’t want to puff up his pride).

There are so many spiritual gifts (like teaching, exhorting, healing, giving, etc.) and I seem to want them all. I desire to be more satisfied and content with the gifts and talents that God has given me. I know that I am uniquely created, but I forget that all the time.

Recently, God has been shedding some light on this issue (otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this blog). To be honest, I am in complete awe. I call it “the Spirit puzzle”.

Each person has been crafted as a piece of one giant puzzle. We will never be a “whole” puzzle so we should just stop trying to look like one. Since I am only a piece, it causes me to depend on the other pieces.

I desire to sit down and listen to my pastor, to watch a student serve another student, to read a sweet article online, to listen to my favorite band…and admire ever piece of the puzzle without wishing that I had those talents too. Because when that happens, I will do less THINKING and more ADMIRING – thus, causing me to worship God instead of thinking constantly about myself.

When God sees the spiritual gift pieces fitting together perfectly it must be so glorifying to Him. But I think that most of the time He is watching the puzzle pieces trying to stretch themselves into something they are not or hopping on top of each other so that the other pieces are hidden.

I have to trust God that He is in fact using the spiritual gifts that He’s given me to further His Kingdom. Actually, I’m pretty happy that I’m not always aware of how He uses me…otherwise I’d probably puff up in pride. But we’ll save that for another blog.