Removing the Intruder 驱除了我生命中“罪”这个入侵者
Dexu Xia
Removing the Intruder
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.Ephesians 5:25
It wasn’t quite dawn when my husband rose from bed and went into the kitchen. I saw the light flip on and off and wondered at his action. Then I recalled that the previous morning I’d yelped at the sight of an “intruder” on our kitchen counter. Translated: an undesirable creature of the six-legged variety. My husband knew my paranoia and immediately arrived to remove it. This morning he’d risen early to ensure our kitchen was bug-free so I could enter without concern. What a guy!
My husband awoke with me on his mind, putting my need before his own. To me, his action illustrates the love Paul describes in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Paul goes on, “Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself” (v. 28). Paul’s comparison of a husband’s love to the love of Christ pivots on how Jesus put our needs before His own. My husband knows I’m afraid of certain intruders, and so he made my concern his priority.
That principle doesn’t apply to husbands only. After the example of Jesus, each of us can lovingly sacrifice to help remove an intruder of stress, fear, shame, or anxiety so that someone can move more freely in the world.
What “intruder” might God be asking you to address to help another? How might you allow someone to help rid your life of certain “intruders”?
Dear God, thank You for the gift of Your Son who’s removed the intruder of sin from my life and reconciled me to You!
驱除了我生命中“罪”这个入侵者
你们作丈夫的，要爱你们的妻子，正如基督爱教会，为教会舍己。—以弗所书5章25节
天才矇矇亮的时候，我的丈夫就起床走进厨房。我看到厨房的灯开了又关，不知道他在做什么。过后我想起了前一天早上惊悚的一幕，我在厨房台面上看到一个“入侵者”，就是可憎的小强──蟑螂。当时我忍不住尖叫，丈夫知道我最害怕这种六脚昆虫，马上赶过来处理。今天早上他特意提早起床，便是想确保厨房里没有任何“入侵者”，好让我可以安心地进厨房，真是好老公！
丈夫把我放在心上，把我的需要看得比他自己的重要。对我来说，他的举动说明了以弗所书5章25节，保罗所描述的爱：“你们作丈夫的，要爱你们的妻子，正如基督爱教会，为教会舍己。”保罗还说：“丈夫也当照样爱妻子，如同爱自己的身子，爱妻子便是爱自己了”（28节）。保罗之所以会把丈夫的爱与基督的爱相互比较，是因为耶稣将我们的需要看得比祂自己的重要。我的丈夫知道我很害怕那些“入侵者”，因此他将我的需求摆在第一。这个原则不仅适用于丈夫。当我们以耶稣为榜样，每个人都可以因着爱而甘愿牺牲自己的益处，帮助别人驱除“入侵者”，比如压力、恐惧、羞耻或焦虑等等，好让他们能坦然无惧地生活！
上帝会让你帮助别人驱除什么样的“入侵者”呢？
如何让别人帮助你驱除你生命中的“入侵者”？
亲爱的上帝，感谢祢赐下祢的独生爱子，祂驱除了我生命中“罪”这个入侵者，并使我能与祢和好！