God's Sweetness

My idea was two people pouring themselves into each other, working hard to make the other feel loved, needed, appreciated etc… I realized that this view of marriage put the emphasis on the wrong thing, on the people involved. The point of this type of marriage is to bring pleasure and fulfillment to the people who are taking part in it.

As a Christian, as someone who is seeking to love God with all their heart, our purpose in life is to further God’s kingdom, to bring His desires to pass, not our own. (Matthew 6:10, 33) Nothing we do should be done for our sake, but out of obedience to God. (John 15:4, 10) God’s view of marriage was vastly different than mine. While I had envisioned two people working to please each other, God showed me that His idea was two people working together to please God. God did not make Eve to make Adam feel good about himself or loved or wanted, God made Eve because Adam was better off with her than without her. God showed me that the best way for me to love someone is to love God first and foremost, and to love that person as an outpouring of my love for God. Having my eyes focused on God and living to please Him will lead me to obeying His command to love. (1 John 5:1-3, John 15:9-12)

Loving my husband would thus be an outpouring of my love for God; my love for God always coming first. It does not take away from the love (living 1 Corinthians 13) that I would give my husband by loving him out of a love for God, but rather adds to it. My love would be a godly love, directed by God’s Spirit rather than a love that I would work at in my own strength. Suddenly it started to make some sense to me. I envisioned two people, both fixing their eyes on God and living to give Him glory, working better together than alone.

Yes, God in His sovereign power could decide to make a person who could serve Him best alone. This person might be able to do things a married person could not, and would be better off without a mate. However, just as easily, God could make two people who could serve Him best if they were together. Together they would be able to pray towards the same end, work the same mission, encourage each other to keep pressing on, raise godly children for the glory of God. Their purpose in life would be the same as that of a single Christian, to obey God, only they would be working at it together. They could be ministry partners, obedience to the Lord partners, faith partners, helping each other along, and thus better than either would have been alone. (Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10)

When I saw this, I was very excited! Yes, someone can love God with all their heart and be married! But, not if marriage is what I had originally thought; the purpose of marriage had to change in my mind first, for this to be true. Putting all these thoughts together, I realized that two things which had seemed separate actually brought me to a glorious conclusion. If my job in life was to obey God, and marriage was doing that same thing with a partner, and God knew what He wanted me to do to bring His plans about, then I only had one reason ever to marry. Out of obedience to His direction. Now I was free from my concern of “how will I know if I am getting a lemon or not?” I did not have to concern myself with it at all. I needed only to concern myself with obeying Jesus Christ, and if the time comes for me to marry, He can say, “That is the one, now is the time,” to us both, and we only need to obey. God knows all things, and He has a plan for my life. I need to obey Him so that His kingdom will come. 

No, I am not giving my heart to any young man that may come after it, but I am not saving it for my husband either. I am giving it all to God, because it is with Him that my heart belongs. 

— Emily Hipps 

She took the words out of my mouth. I want Christ, so deep that they need to search Him before they may find me. Christ is beautiful, so beautiful.

markmuldez:

• A woman who is full of grace.
• A woman who is striving to be like Christ and genuinelyin-love with Him.
• A woman who exudesGod’s character. 
• A woman who embraces godliness and making inward beauty, her priority.
• A woman who knows her identity is found in Christ.
• A woman who is after God’s own heart.
  
• A woman who is completely sold out to God and the works of His kingdom.

Bottom line: A woman’s beauty is far more than what she looks like on the outside.
It’s about letting Jesus shine from the inside.

Inner beauty is more attractive than physical beauty.

That’s my definition of real beauty.  That’s the kind of woman I wanna marry. :)

markmuldez:

Hello Anon,

The Bible doesn’t tell us how to “date” or “court,” whichever how you call the process to use to get to know a potential mate. Back in the old testament, families usually are the ones who helped their young men and women find their future mates.

As far as finding someone over the internet and possibly pursuing a relationship with that person, I don’t think that’s impossible. At my church, we have a few people who actually did a dating site and they’re married and attends our church and serves at our church. I’ve heard stories from people who met their spouse over twitter or some forums.

Nothing is impossible with God. If it’s His will for you to marry someone that you meet over the internet then it’s gonna happen. Obviously, at some point in the relationship, the couple needs to spend time with each other and meet at least once in a while to grow before stepping into marriage. But distance shouldn’t be an issue. Just think about this, God loves us so much that He made a way for us to be with Him through His So Jesus. He came down to earth and died for our sins! That’s a HUGE gap right there between Us and God, but praise be to God for His Son, He is our BRIDGE!

Bottom line: In all of the choices we make, though, it’s crucial to remember that it is God—not us—who brings us together with a spouse. As simple as it may sound, we shouldn’t have to work to find our spouse; we should be living out our lives with any desires for a spouse on the back burner and our desires for knowing God at the forefront of our hearts and making Him known. To live for His glory is our ultimate goal. Men do need to take the initiative in a relationship and pursue the woman, but God is still the one who brings the couple together. Seek God and He will fulfill (or change) your desires

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. - Matthew 6:33

In Christ,
Mark M.

littlethingsaboutgod:

To be able to worship God in such a beautiful day…

Only when we fall in love with Jesus Christ and build our lives completely around Him can we experience human love and romance in its purest and most beautiful form

- Leslie Ludy

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