Philemon 1:4 - Summer of Scripture

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Welcome to Summer of Scripture on the Naked marriage podcast. For 66 days in a row, we are releasing a daily devotional episode for your marriage. And over these 66 days, we're going to pull out one scripture from each of the 66 books of the Bible and talk about how it applies to your marriage. So if you listen to every single one of these episodes, you're going to have a comprehensive understanding of God's plan for your marriage. We encourage you to listen to everyone. Let's dive into today's scripture.

Hey there. Welcome back. We are on day 57 and we are in the Book of Philemon. And we're going to be in chapter one, verse four. It says this. I always thank God for you when I remember you in my prayers. And I love this so much because I think that this is such a reminder that we need to be praying for each other. And I think that when it comes to marriage specifically, we definitely need to be praying for our spouse, you know, and pray with our spouse too. But we need to be praying for our spouse regularly.

We really, really do. The Book of Philemon is a really interesting story. It's a personal letter Paul wrote to his friend Philemon, and it's about a guy named Onesimus. Onesimus. So Onesimus had been a slave of Philemon. Now, in those days, slavery looked different than kind of the chattel slavery we had here in this country. A scar on our nation's history.

Yes.

But slavery in different forms has taken place really since the dawn of civilization. And during this culture, ancient Rome, ancient Greece, there were different forms of it. Often it was a form of indebtedness where someone owed a debt that they could not pay and they were like indentured, like an indentured servant. There were different various forms of it. So we don't know the exact nature of it here, but we do know is Onesimus had run off before that debt had been repaid and had come across. Paul met Paul gotten saved through Paul's example, and now Paul encouraging him to go make things right with, you know, his former boss essentially sends Onesimus to deliver this letter to Philemon. So, like, he shows up and this guy, you know, is run off and essentially picture somebody that's owed you all this money and run off, skip the bill is coming back and he's handing this letter to Philemon. Opens it up, and it starts out with that verse that we shared. Paul saying, philemon, I always thank God when I remember for you in my prayers. And it's a beautiful. I care about you, I care about you. I pray for you. You know that I love you. And then the letter goes on to say, like, onesimus isn't just a slave or an employee or anything like that anymore. He's your brother in Christ now. And so I want you to welcome him back as you would welcome a brother. And I'm sending him to you because I don't want there to be any, you know, I want there to be closure here.

I trust that you would do that.

I trust you would do the right thing. And. And if he owes you anything, put that on my account as the guy that led you to Christ and, you know, has been your spiritual father in a way that you can never repay. Paul's like, kind of like, I like.

How Paul slips those.

Yeah. Smirking things, like, you know, just. Yeah, put it on my account. Yeah.

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And so, you know, Onesimus, actually, we do know that he went on to become a great leader in the early church. You know, a bishop over many churches. You know, he was a great pastor and leader himself because of Paul, and I think probably because of Philemon, welcoming him back as a brother. And. And it really is a beautiful story in that way. But coming back to just that one verse, I think that's something you should be able to say to your spouse daily. I thank God for you when I remember you in my prayers. Are you praying for your spouse daily? And when you do, are you thanking God for them? Because something happens in our heart when we have a posture of gratitude that says God thank you for my spouse. Thank you for allowing me to be married to them. Thank you for the gift they are in my life. And the more that we will thank God for them, I think the more gratitude we'll feel towards them, and then.

We end up treating them differently. When we have a spirit of thankfulness, it changes things. It really does. You know, earlier, one of our verses ended with always be thankful. I mean, that's a pretty strong statement, always. To always be thankful. I mean, there's not a whole lot of verses that say always right at the gate, you know, right out of the gate, like, always be thankful. And I think that, man, that's a high calling. Because it's sometimes hard to be thankful if you're going through a rough patch and you're like, well, I don't know if my spouse is thankful for me. But again, we have to start with ourselves. We have to be willing to take that first step because it does go a long way. And just remembering your spouse in your prayers, I'm telling you, that will change things. Like, God could change your circumstances through that prayer. But I think more than anything, he really changes the posture of your heart. He gives you that heart of flesh we've been talking about this whole time. And that heart of flesh, as opposed to the heart of stone, allows you to have that olive branch, extend that olive ranch to your spouse, and have healthier communication because of it and more peace in your relationship. And so we do need to keep on praying for each other and pray for our children as well. I mean, I think a lot of times I've heard people when we're meeting with them, they're going through a rough patch. They're like, I don't know why I have such an easier time being kind to my kids or praying for my kids. And for some reason, it's like, when it comes to my spouse, I kind of clench up. And I think it's pride. That's what it is. It's pride that tells us to not do this. And so, again, we have to take that to the Lord and say, lord, forgive me of this pride. Help me to not be prideful. Give me a heart of flesh. And I just. I wanna thank you for my spouse, and I wanna pray for my spouse. You know, help them to grow in you and their relationship with you, Lord. Lead them down the right path. Help us to have a great marriage. You know, just let that be a daily prayer.

Man, that is so good, guys. I hope that encouraged you today. Put that into practice. Start praying daily for your spouse, thanking God for them and then letting them know just like Paul did with and I thank God every day for you. I thank God when I pray for you. And I'm so thankful to be your husband or to be your wife. And that'll mean a lot to them. It'll mean a lot to you both. God bless you guys. We'll see you tomorrow for day 58. We will be in the book of Hebrews.

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