Shepherd of My Soul - A Different Kind of Love

Source

This song was sung at our wedding 26 years ago; until recently, it was my first time hearing this song.

A wedding ceremony is celebratory yet solemn, so we stood there and listened to the words of the song - hearing it but not paying it too much mind as we were focused on being married.

I don't know why this song was selected as it doesn't seem to follow all the romantic notions of a wedding; on top of it all it was sung by the Young People's Choir (today they would be called the Youth Choir.) But I did appreciate the lyrics of the song.

For whatever reason, for the first time in 26 years I woke up singing this song.

Shepherd of my soul I give You full control

Wherever You may lead I will follow

I have made the choice to listen for Your voice

Wherever You may lead I will go

Shepherd of my soul I give You full control

Wherever You may lead I will follow

I have made the choice to listen for Your voice

Wherever You may lead I will go

Be it in a quiet pasture or by a gentle breeze

The shepherd of my soul is by my side

Should I face a mighty mountain or a valley dark and deep
The shepherd of my soul will be my guide

As I thought of these words I realized that the Shepherd of our soul has been our guide and we have allowed Him to guide. Through thick and thin, through ups and downs He is one of the few constants in our lives. Because of this constant, there are other constants - our love for each other has only grown; it has never disappeared. Our feelings may have changed over time but what binds us together is as sure as the day we took our vows. To others looking on this may look atypical as we are not huggy huggy lovey dovey type. We struggled with pet names for a long time, and these days our hands intertwine when we pray. Yet when we go through the times that inevitably we all go through - we don't think of leaving each other. We know we can ride it out and it won't always be this way. We know we have a Shepherd of our soul that guides us and we know we love each other.

So on that day many years ago, though I had never heard this song I imagine the Youth Choir was celebrating our love by requesting that we always let the Shepherd be our guide. Thank you.

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. Psalm 23:1 NLT
May the Shepherd be your guide in all the relationships of your life.

Have you ever heard this song? Is there a particular song that helps you in your relationships?

Sexcaspades

Sex...it's everywhere. We are inundated with sex in our culture.
Listening in on some conversations over the weekend, I heard how teens as young as 14 have lost their virginity and how those in high school are quite versed on sexual positions and techniques.

When I was a youth leader at a church, a couple of young ladies got pregnant. Without fail these young ladies expressed regret at what transpired. One told me she was very lonely, she knew she shouldn’t be doing this but she figured it would ease her loneliness. Another one told me. "You know how it is; you get all caught up and before you know it....” Both of these ladies ended up pregnant.

I bet you so many feel that they've outsmarted someone if they're active but don't get pregnant. The guys aren't innocent in this either, it’s just that the girls bear most of the burden for this behavior.

Maybe we can coin a new phrase - instead of losing your virginity, perhaps it should be "I'm choosing to gain blessings." Maintaining and keeping your virginity until the right time is nothing to be ashamed of.

I tried to teach the young ladies that I worked with how to practically prepare themselves for situations and how to avoid situations that may lead them down the wrong path.

I also wanted the young ladies to know that they were worthy. If they saw themselves as valuable, perhaps this would translate in to how they allowed others to treat them.

As an adult, I wanted them to know what I expected and why I expected it from them. Sometimes people just don’t know and get sucked in to what’s most common. I wasn’t saying this to complicate their lives; from experience I knew it was the better way and I knew it was doable.

The bottom line is you don't have to cave in to all the messages of sex around you. It may be considered radical if you don't, but it’s worth it: it’s one less thing to cloud your head with; you don’t have to think about the emotions of connecting with someone who may not be in your life past this instance but who will be in your mind forever; it frees you to focus on what you need to do.

Sex is a beautiful thing; but what's put out there takes away from the beauty of it. There are too many consequences if it’s not within the framework God intended.

I think everyone knows what the Bible says about this topic, but this is one of those areas where we often feel we know better than what God says.

What are your views on sex outside of marriage?