Dear Abby

You remember “Dear Abby” Ann Landers don’t you? These syndicated advice columns were written by twin sisters Pauline and Esther Friedman. Every day they gave common sense advice to those who had shared their stories and questions with them. “Dear Abby” continues to be written by Pauline’s daughter Jeanne Phillips and is read by more people than any other newspaper column in the world.

You’ve got questions you would like answers to don’t you. Everyday we face problems that need fixing in one way or another. It might be at home, work, school or anywhere in between. I once tried writing an ask the pastor column in the local paper called “Word on the Street.” Like the Friedman sisters it was set up in a questions/answer format. While all the questions were real to life with biblical answers, they were just my invention because no one ever wrote to ask about their issues. “Dear Abby” your job is safe.

The apostle Paul got some questions from the church in Corinth that he gave godly counsel to in response. Some of the questions we might think would be better talked about by the likes of “Dear Abby” than a preacher like Paul. I can imagine their question being something like this:

Dear Paul, I miss going to visit the temple prostitutes to honor the goddess Venus. I know she isn’t really a god but we sure had fun up on the hill. What’s a guy or a girl to do?

Alright their question may not have been quite like that, but take a look at Paul’s answer. He tells it to us straight.

• [2] . . . It's good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder. [3] The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. [4] Marriage is not a place to "stand up for your rights." Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out.
  1 Corinthians 7:2-4 (MsgB)

So do you think your ‘problems’ are too personal for the Bible to offer any answers? Is there anything more personal than sex? Don’t just look to “Dear Abby” or common sense for advice. Look to God’s word for answers and direction in all areas of life. Who knows, you might even want to ask the pastor! What do you think?