Often when we hear the word “faithfulness” in marriage, we immediately default to the meaning of being exclusive in our sexual relationships. Being faithful simply means he or she will not cheat by having sexual encounters with anyone other than their spouse. This is true. On the other hand, I learned that this mindset goes beyond physical sex. In fact, it begins before the altar. I avoided marriage for years because I was unsure of the faithfulness of my partner, and at times myself. Proverbs 20:6-7 asks us “many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?” I didn’t really know anyone who was. As God was preparing me for marriage, I learned a few things before meeting my Promise, as I like to call him. I had to be retaught the first covenant marriage that I entered into between me and Jesus. Who knew?! Well, He had to answer that question for me before I could literally walk down the aisle. A faithful person who can find? I could. And I eventually did in Jesus. You can’t get anymore faithful than Him. Our earthly marriages should mirror this knowledge. A faithful person who can find? You! When you model the faithfulness of Christ, someone can actually put your name as their answer! When we stand at the altar to repeat those important words also known as vows, we must understand that we are entering into a covenant. Whether you wrote your own or repeated the traditional marital oath, the Lord your God bears witness to this promise that you make to model your first Love. He certainly does not take this act lightly. Numbers 30:2 reminds us that “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” So, what does it mean to be faithful today? The same as it did then. When you feel that you are ready to say I do, what you are saying is you are ready to be relied on. You are agreeing to love someone as Christ loves His bride, the church. The church consists of you and I, right? Well, how does Christ love us? I’m sure we could agree that if He loved us the way we have loved some people in our lives, we would not stay in this relationship, let alone be faithful to Him. We can rely on Him because He is who He says He is no matter what circumstances comes against our relationship. He never changes. I don’t know about you, but sometimes that makes me get my act together. I am not the easiest person to be in relationship, yet He remains who He promised to be no matter which one of my personalities gets out of bed in the morning. Faithfulness requires someone to have a made-up mind to be a part of our lives and everything that comes with it. Jesus understands that part of marrying the church means He is signing up for communal property. Huh? He married us knowing all of our flaws and shortcomings. He comes into our lives prepared to help us become the love we were created to be. How many times we fail to meet His expectations does not make Him love us any less. And if you have met the human race, you know that takes faithfulness. He not only has a mind to love us, but His heart for us has proven Him over and over again. When we sing the chorus “Oh, how I love Jesus”, the best part is the last line. “Because He first loved me”. When you know that someone has come into your life to provide for your needs and to cherish you without your providing some vainglorious reason, you begin to believe in that person. You build a bond of trust and confidence that you can rely on. Don’t allow the enemy of relationship to pervert and twist this concept of a lasting bond in your life. You made a promise, a vow that has very little to do with one specific need, such as sex. Like Christ, hold your marriage in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled (Heb. 13:4) He is not sexually immoral nor adulterous. When you understand that marriage is your allowing someone to see you as reliable mentally, emotionally, and spiritually like Christ, the flesh has to obey the spirit. Warmest regards, Bird
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJust a little birdy and fish about the Father's business. Helping to better the world one blog at a time. Categories
All
Archives
May 2020
|