I've been talking with a dear friend lately about marriage and the time before marriage- what to do, how to prepare, what mentality one must have.
I would love to be married and be a wife and a mother; I dream of keeping my own house and providing for my children and husband. I feel very strongly about waiting for God's Prince Charming to waltz into the dance that is my life instead of walking around looking for the perfect man for myself. I still believe that if I follow God's calling in every aspect of my life and make Christ my true Prince Charming, that marriage, if it is in God's plans for me, will be a blessing.
But I did realize that one thing I was doing was striving to be faithful with the expectation of blessing. My dear friend pointed this out to me. "God will bless faithfulness -- but we mustn't be faithful so we can receive blessing. We must be faithful because that is the least we can do since we have been redeemed from a life of slavery to sin," she said.
I see that I should be faithful only because He was faithful on the cross to forgive me my sins... Not because I want Him to bless me. The fact is He already has blessed me. He has blessed me with Himself. What more do I need? What more should I want? I now will be faithful to Christ alone, and remember that I need to love Him more than anyone else- even a husband.
If I live my life with no expectations, I will never be disappointed or discouraged. I only can expect Christ, because He is the only truth and faithfulness that can fulfill my expectations.
I still pray for my future husband, if he is out there somewhere. I know God has put this desire in my heart for a reason. I still ask God that, if it is His Will, that I will be given the blessing of marriage and motherhood. But now, I look on it as a request, not a necessity- a hope, not an ambition.
4 comments:
Great post! Very true.
Well said, Lydia. I enjoyed your perspective on this subject-- both marriage and what faithfulness truly is. I think you hit the nail on the head with waiting and not "looking"-- precious time and thoughts can be wasted with looking, but the key is waiting and *walking in the path of God's will and trusting His provision and plan for the days to come. And... it's hard to think that way (not only in this area of life!) ... not being able to "see" then end result, having to surrender to God as the one in control and not us.
What you mentioned about faithfulness is so good. I loved how you said that Christ should be our goal and our motivation! I am praying He will soften me to see and love what He has done even more deeply so I can serve Him with the right heart. We can be comforted that the Lord does bless those who are faithful to him-- knowing this gives us hope in the midst of trouble and pain.
I enjoyed reading your posts -- so much wonderful content! Thanks for sharing, encouraging, and challenging me!
Lyd, Excellent post. Faithfulness for the sake of getting something from God is an ever-present temptation in most people's lives(including mine ;) Isn't it refreshing that He is going to work on that temptation with us? That we don't have to work alone for the end result of pure faithfulness? So happy I get to run this race of life with you! ~Greta
Greta! I'm so glad you got a minute to read my blog :D I love you, girl!
Thanks for posting!
Lyd
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