The Response to the Response

As the week has progressed since I posted my initial response about the Marriage Isn’t For You concept, I have talked to people about the concept. Honestly, I was really shocked at some of the answers I heard- a lot of people think that it’s a great idea, but that it is harder said than done and so it’s not really a realistic goal.

            Yes, this whole entire concept is easier said than done, but so is all of the Christian walk. The Christian walk is not supposed to be easy; we are supposed to encounter hard trials and times and circumstances. If you are in the realm of dating or preparing to date, then it is really hard to hang on to the necessity of dating someone that is a Christian with good Christian values and morals. It is soooo much easier to push all that to the side, say forget about it, and do what just feels right. If you’re married, then I have been told that it is really hard to view your marriage in the lens of being for the other person, especially if that person doesn’t appreciate your efforts, doesn’t acknowledge your hard work, and leaves you feeling that you did nothing at all.

            This morning, I was getting ready for my nursing clinicals, and due to a shift in my normal routine due to my cable being messed up, I decided to crack open my Bible while I ate breakfast, which honestly I should have been doing from the get go. I flipped around and ended up landing in Philippians 3. As I finished reading the section, God began connecting the dots.

            At the end of the section (3:1-14), Paul says in verse 10 that he wants "to know Christ- yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead." He has a goal here that he clearly lays out for the Philippians.

"Guys, my goal is know Christ in such a deep, intimate way, to know His sufferings, to know the power that resurrected Him from that grave, and to have that same power flowing within my veins."

BUT then in verses 12-14, he says,

"But guys, guess what? I haven't gotten there yet. This is my goal and I haven't attained it. I wish that I had, but I know that the goal is nowhere near my grasp. BUT I can promise and assure you that I am pressing forward to my goal. I'm forgetting all the things that have held me back and pushing forward to the thing that I desire so deeply. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." 

The goal of a marriage/relationship not being about ourselves is a high-up-there goal. It's one that may definitely be way up in the clouds. ~ Once again, it goes against every grain of our human nature to be selfish. ~ But Paul had a goal, a very clear goal, and even him, the guy that was one of the greatest missionaries to walk the planet, one of the guys that got to spend time with Jesus, the guy that wrote a good majority of the New Testament, EVEN he had not achieved his goal yet. If he hadn't achieved his goal yet, I would say it's okay that we haven't achieved ours yet. The key is to have the goal. The key is to press forward on to the goal, forgetting what lies behind and going after our goal with our gaze heavenward. (Which I understand is one of the hardest things to do- I would think that it was really hard for Paul to stopping forgetting that his past included murdering Christians, and there is evidence earlier in the chapter that Paul does reflect on this. Same thing for us. It’s hard to let offenses go, especially when it’s someone you live with and are most vulnerable with. It’s hard to let offenses go when you’ve been emotionally burned time and time again.)

Isn't that the whole point of faith though? Faith in God is trusting that He is going to do the things that we can't do. We can't save ourselves; we're counting on the blood of Jesus Christ to do that for us. We can't achieve our goals on our own; we need the power of Him who rose from the dead and who answers big bold prayers to come and fill us and help us every step of the way.

            The goal may seem unachievable, ridiculous, lofty, up in the clouds, but the power of Christ living through you gives you the power to go after that goal. YOU CAN DO IT. Will it be easy? No. Might you still receive rejection at the beginning? Yes. I think of the movie Fireproof, that guy got a lot of rejection when he started the Love Dare; his wife didn’t know how to process the change immediately. The same may be true for you and your relationships as well. 

The power of Jesus Christ living within us gives us the ability to go after crazy goals in life that God has laid out for us. 

**Heads Up: Yes, I did do a little Morgan paraphrasing of verses, not every verse is quote exactly as it is found in the actual text.