Stand for what's right

You can't force someone to change, or to get help if he or she doesn't want it. Paul, speaking on the issue of unequal values among spouses, didn't tell women "Try to change your husband to be a different man." Rather, he said "Be faithful to Christ. Carry out your marital responsibilities in the best way you can, and somehow the faithfulness of your life will speak to him in the long run" (1 Cor 6:6-10).

There is a story about a wife who took this approach with her husband over a period of about 25 years. Eventually, our of respect for her Christian faith, he began to seek Christ himself, and they finally achieved a true unity.

This quality of courageous patience is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). In the King James version, the term is "long suffering." It seems that significant character is not possible without pain; look at what it cost Christ to buy us the ability to change. Perhaps it's not possible for us to help another person grow without pain, either.

But there's a special power in the kind of suffering that takes place when a person stands, day in and day out, for what is right. It's the kind of power Jesus displayed when he was reviled but did not revile back. The person who desires change doesn't try to force it, but chooses to live the best way he or she can under the circumstances, trusting in God for daily strength and the final outcome.

God bless.