The majority of everyone’s life throughout human history involves being a spouse, a child, a parent, and an employee. The majority of life’s happy and joyful times involve being a spouse, a child, a parent, and an employee. The majority of life’s sad and hurting times involve being a spouse, a child, a parent, and an employee.
God lays out simple instructions on how to have less sad and hurtful times and how to have more happy and joyful times. They do not involve waiting for others to act the way I want them to act. Rather, God teaches that I should initiate and maintain proper actions. God’s instructions do not have contingencies. They are absolute. Happy and joyful times are dependent first and primarily on how I treat others.
Husbands respond best to respect; submission is the greatest expression of respect (18). Wives respond best to love; kind expressions in action and words are the greatest expression of love (19).
Parents respond best to obedience (20). Children respond well to encouragement and positive attention (21). Supervisors respond best to loyalty and dedication (22).
None of these come easily and naturally since original sin and our inherited worldly fallen nature, especially if the recipient does not respond accord to what we want and expect. Going against habitual improper and harmful past ways takes time and effort.
Proper and good human interaction skills must be learned. Just like learning to read, write, and math took practice and time before they became new habits; so love, respect, obedience, encouragement, positive attention, loyalty, and dedication needs to be learned until they are habits. Practicing these will not bring back immediate responses. Yet eventually, they will reap a harvest of happy and joyful times.
