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Question 3

The teacher notes that “cling to what is good” uses the same word as a husband “cleaving” to his wife in Genesis 2:24; what “goods” have you treated casually that Paul says should be bonded to you like marriage—and what competing attachments make that kind of cleaving hard?

Another way to ask: “Cling to what is good” is like a husband holding tightly to his wife in marriage. What good things have you been casual about that should be “stuck” to you, and what other attachments make that hard?

Direct Answer Bercot’s point is that Christians should be tightly bound to “what is good,” not loosely interested in it; our connection to good should resemble the exclusive, intimate bond of marriage. Competing attachments are anything that pulls our loyalty away from that close union with goodness.

Support from Transcript:

Paul’s command is, “Cling to what is good,” and Bercot stresses the word “cling/cleave” is “the exact same word that the Septuagint uses in Genesis” for a man cleaving to his wife.
He quotes Genesis 2:24 to explain the intensity: leaving parents and “shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.”
Conclusion drawn in the transcript: “Christians should be as closely bonded to what is good as a husband and wife are bonded to each other.”
Theodoret is cited: believers should be “cemented to what is good,” implying stability and permanence.
The lesson later names rivals to devotion: serving “money, lust, pleasure, or anything else of this world,” which can also compete with clinging to good.

Discussion Follow-ups What does it reveal when “good” is treated as optional or occasional? How might exclusive devotion to the Lord strengthen this “cleaving” to what is good?

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