First Letter from Small Man to the Sacred Family in Village of Pleasure 7
7
GUIDANCE FOR MARRIAGE AND SEXUAL RELATIONS
1Now I will give an answer to the things you wrote to me about the sacred gift of marriage and sexual relations. I think it would be a good thing not to marry or have sexual relations. 2But because of the strong temptation to misuse these desires, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3Both husband and wife should honor each other in marriage and fulfill each other’s sexual needs. 4In this matter neither wife nor husband have the right over their own bodies. Their bodies belong to each other.
5So do not deny each other unless you both agree for spiritual reasons such as prayer. Only deny yourselves for an agreed-upon time, then renew your relations with each other. In this way, if you lack self-control, then Accuser (Satan) cannot tempt you.
6I am not telling you what you must do. I am only guiding you by what I have learned as a weak human being. 7I wish that everyone could be unmarried just as I am, but the Great Spirit has gifted each of us in different ways.
8Now I will counsel those who are not married or widowed: Follow in my footsteps and remain as you are. 9But if any of you lack self-control, you should get married, for that is better than letting your desires burn like a wildfire.
GUIDANCE FOR MARRIAGE IN THE SACRED FAMILY
10To those who are married I give this instruction, not from me but from our Honored Chief: A wife should not leave her husband, 11but if she does, she is to remain as one who is unmarried, or go back and work things out with her husband. And in the same manner, a husband should not leave or send away his wife.
12I know nothing more about this from our Honored Chief, but here is my counsel to all the others: If a sacred family member has a wife who does not trust in our spiritual ways, but she is willing to live with him, he should not send her away. 13It is the same for a wife who has a husband who does not believe. 14For both husband and wife, even if they do not believe, are made holy by being joined in marriage. If this were not so, your children would be ceremonially impure, but now they are holy.
15But if the one who does not believe wants to end the marriage, let it be so. In a situation like this a sacred family member is not bound, for the Great Spirit has called us to live in harmony with each other. 16So I give this counsel to both wives and husbands who find themselves in this situation: How can you be sure that you will guide your marriage partners away from their broken ways to be set free and made whole?
17In every situation you find yourself, walk in a manner pleasing to the Great Spirit. This is the guidance I give to all the sacred families Creator has called me to serve.
WISE COUNSEL FOR NEW FOLLOWERS
18Any man who has participated in the cutting of the flesh ceremony before he was called should not remove the marks of that ceremony. In the same way, any who have not participated in the ceremony have no further need to participate. 19Whether or not you participated in that ceremony no longer means anything. What has meaning is walking the road in the ways of the Great Spirit.#7:19 Galatians 5:6
20All should walk in a good way in whatever condition they were in when called to follow Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
21Were you a slave when you answered the call? Think nothing of it. But if you are able to gain your freedom, do so. 22Remember, the one who was a slave when called by our Honored Chief is his freedman. In the same way, the one who was free when he was called is now a slave of the Chosen One. 23A great price was paid to set you free, so do not become slaves to human beings.
24My sacred family members, all should walk in a good way in whatever condition they were in when they were called to follow Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
COUNSEL FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT MARRIED
25Now about those who have not yet married. I have no instructions from our Honored Chief in this matter, but I will give you my counsel as one whom our Honored Chief in his kindness has proven to be worthy of trust. 26In the light of the troubled times we face, it would be a good thing for a man who is not married to remain so. 27So then, if you have a wife, do not look for a way out of marriage. Have you been freed from a wife? Then do not look for another. 28But if you do marry, you have not done wrong. If a young maiden marries, she has done nothing wrong. But those who marry will find it hard to face troubled times in this world, and I want to keep you from those things.#7:28 Matthew 24:19
29Here is what I am saying to you who are members of the sacred family: There is not much time left before these troubled times come. So those who are married should now prepare themselves to live as if they were not. 30It is not the time to wallow in tears and self-pity, or for glad hearts and festivals, and it is not the time to gather many possessions. 31Those who depend on the world as it is must be ready to let go of it, for the world as we know it will soon pass away.
32I want you to walk free from worry about these things. A man who is not married can give all his time to please our Honored Chief. 33-34But a man who is married will have to give more of his time to the things of this world in order to please his wife. It is the same for a woman who is not married, or for a young maiden. They are able to give all their time to our Honored Chief, to keep their body and spirit holy and pleasing to him. But a married woman will have to give more of her time to the things of this world in order to please her husband.
35I am saying these things for your own good, not to put a rope around your necks, but so that you will be able to keep both eyes on our Honored Chief as you walk his good road.
COUNSEL FOR NEW MARRIAGES
36Now in the case of a man who has been promised in marriage to a young maiden, and his desire for her is becoming strong: if he wants to marry her and is no longer able to wait, and she is of age, then it is not wrong for them to marry.#7:36 1 Corinthians 7:9
37On the other hand, if a man has a strong heart, if he is able to bridle his desires, and has decided for himself not to marry the promised young maiden, then for him it is the right thing to do.
38So the one who marries has done a good thing, and the one who does not marry is doing even better.
39A wife is bound by the law of marriage to her husband as long as he lives.#7:39 Romans 7:2 If her husband dies, she is then free to marry whomever she desires, but only to one who belongs to our Honored Chief. 40I think she would be much happier to remain unmarried. That is how I see it, and I think Creator’s Spirit also agrees with me.
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