Attention Conveying appropriate interest, concern, and care; taking notice of others and making an effort to enter into their respective worlds. (1 Corinthians 12:25 NASB)
This could not be better timing for me to write (and hopefully for you to read) this installment of the 52-Week Plan on the theme of meeting our spouse’s need for Attention. As my wife and I finish putting away Thanksgiving décor and enter the season of Christmas, we have just finished celebrating a wonderful week with our children, grandchildren, and friends. We are also adjusting to a much quieter house, fewer dishes in the dishwasher, smaller portions at meals, and not be addressed every few minutes as “Grandmommy” or “Grandaddy”.
My sweet wife is quietly going about her business of packing some things and unpacking their replacements on shelves, hearth, and other strategic places where visitors and guests alike will be greeted with joyful reminders of Christ’s birth and all that surrounds His first advent.
I am realizing that for me to write this edition effectively, I need to quit for now and give much needed “Attention” by “Conveying appropriate interest, concern, and care; taking notice of my spouse and making an effort to enter into her world.”
So….. See you later…. Tater!
Well, I am back! I spent some time with my wife putting away the “old” and bringing out the “new”. I got to spend time in her world. That meant I got to see her in her world, doing something she really enjoys and feels is important. She enjoys making our home a warm, welcoming place. At the same time, I got to enjoy having her in my world. One of the places I enjoy being in “my world” is watching my spouse’s face light up when she feels fulfilled and satisfied.
THREE SOURCES OF LIGHT – Help Us Meet the Need of Attention in our Spouse
Light Source #1: Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:32) Walking in the Light: Experiencing God’s Love and Giving It Away (Attention)
Let’s Walk in the Light of Fresh Encounters with Jesus
Would you stop a moment or two and imagine the farthest point in the universe? Next, would you imagine the largest object in the universe? Finally, would you try to imagine (see) the smallest particle in the world?
If you owned all of that, had the power to create all of that, and actually made the universe and all that is in it, what would it be like (try to imagine) if you had to leave the place of ownership and creator and become subject to the worst of mankind’s treatment and even be put to death having done nothing wrong? What if you were guilty of only one thing…loving everyone with unconditional, pure love even when rejected and left alone by all?
Would you see Jesus doing that for you and then would you praise Him, sing a song to Him, shout a rejoicing exclamation, and / or weep for joy?
Why not enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise?
Light Source #2: God’s Word is a “Lamp and Light” (Psalm 119:105)
Walking in the Light: Experiencing God’s Love and Giving It Away (Attention)
Attention – Conveying appropriate interest, concern, and care; taking notice of others and making an effort to enter into their respective worlds. (1 Corinthians 12:25 NASB)
Let’s Do: Philippians 2: 5-7
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
1. Please pray asking God to bring one or more people into your mind into whose world you can enter? If you are married, I want you to focus on entering the world of your spouse.
2. Think for a moment what “mindset Jesus Christ” has that would move Him to leave glory and come to live among us. What would move Him to leave His world to enter ours?
3. List as many characteristics of your spouse’s world as you can think of that help you “know” what it would be like to be him/her. What are the joys, the pressures, the labors, the interests, the likes, the dislikes, and other categories to give insight into his/her world?
4. Determine how you can enter her/his world this week or in coming days to show care and interest.
5. Perhaps a way to begin this process is…. a. ….to think how you would want your spouse/friend to enter your world to let you know he/she really cares. (Ideas? – perhaps he/she could listen well, ask about your work, help with a project, go with you to an important event or place, comfort you about a recent disappointment or hurt, take responsibility for a hurt he/she caused, forgive you for something you did, etc….) b….. when all else fails – ask your spouse how you can enter his/her world and know better how to convey that you love him/her? How can you remove some aloneness by giving attention?
Light Source #3: Followers of Jesus are called the “Light of the World” (Matt 5:14)
Walking in the Light: Experiencing God’s Love and Giving It Away (Attention)
Attention – Conveying appropriate interest, concern, and care; taking notice of others and making an effort to enter into their respective worlds. (1 Corinthians 12:25 NASB)
Let’s Walk in the Light of Fellowship with Believers
Date Night / Together Time After completing “Doing the Book” section above, I think you will find it healthy to actually give and receive feedback on how you did or how you are doing with entering your spouse’s world and showing love even more effectively.
1. Ask: What have I done to enter your world? 2. Ask: What can I do to better enter your world? 3. Admittedly this is a vulnerable exercise, but think of the fellowship you can enjoy with your spouse by getting deeply connected to her heart and to the heart of Jesus.
Remember: You are to experience “# 5 (Light Source #2 section) In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…”
His mindset was leaving heaven to come to be with us. We are leaving our comfort and perhaps our usual tracks of life to discover what our spouse experiences in his / her world.
Let’s Give the Love of Jesus by Giving Attention as we Do the Book, Experience the Real Jesus, and Have Authentic Fellowship with our Spouse/Friend.
Walking in the Light may not be easy for us to do at first, but think of the blessings of loving God and others and avoid being “overtaken by the darkness” in this world.