A voice-over asks women, "Isn't it time for AshleyMadison.com?" Thinking this might be a lead on something to get my wife for Valentine's Day, I checked it out.

Imagine my surprise when the website greeted me with this tagline: "Life is short. Have an affair." For $249 you can sign up and be guaranteed one within three months. I decided it was not time for Ashley Madison. It's bad advice. Problems in your marriage? These people say run away from each other.

Others say run towards each other. One church issued a "seven days of sex" challenge to their married couples. Kind of "Challenge Lite" compared to another church who issued the same appeal, but for thirty days. One pastor explained that they wanted people to move from "whining about the economy to whoopee."

Misunderstanding his intent, I ran a search and found Whoopi Goldberg, who on The View noted that it was a "man who offered the challenge." Then she asked why the challenge wasn't to "Go out. Be friends. Get to know each other. Go for a walk."

I wouldn't normally turn to Goldberg for advice, but I think she is on track. I searched to see if Jesus issued a love challenge, and sure enough, he did:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind ... Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

The love Jesus spoke of is agape love. It's an intimate love that seeks what is best for the other person.

See if the results aren't "outrageous" in the best of ways!

Imagine a world where everyone actually did that. Husbands would do their best to meet the needs of their wives. Wives would do the same for their husbands. Those unmarried would trust God and love others by remaining celibate. They would also learn self-control and what true friendship means.

And, by the way, aren't those two qualities that actually enhance the marriage relationship?

So I think it is time to offer a "7 Days of Love Challenge." For the next seven days, trust God and love the others in your life in the way he coaches you to.

Your friendships will improve.

And for the married out there, see if the results aren't "outrageous" in the best of ways!

 

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© 2009 Rick Brown

Title: "7 Days of Love Challenge"
Author: Rick Brown
Publication Date: February 13, 2009

The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists by Ravi Zacharias Zacharias cuts to the core of the atheist problem and presents a case for truth resolving itself in a presentation of God in the person of Jesus Christ as the intelligence behind the universe, and the end (the culmination, not the cessation) of reason.

Rick Brown is the preaching minister for ChristBridge Fellowship in Tomball, Texas. He loves his wife Karen and two sons Kris and Taylor, but most of all he loves God. Read more at onelife2love.wordpress.com

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