***For those that care to watch what spawned this Blog, you can right here:
So I went to church today and got a great message that I needed to share/jot down, if not for anyone else, at least for myself. This may not be completely in Blog format. This is from a series of sermons on the subject of Marriage that have been preached by Zion Church’ s Pastor Keith Battle. The title of the series is Holy Matrimony, and this was the fourth message of the series. If you want to get more information on Zion Church, feel free to go to http://www.zionchurcholine.com They even have the sermons online. They usually put them online Wednesdays. When it is archived, I will post the link to it.
These were parts that I took away from it. I didn’t write every point because some resonated more with me than others.
- Dont have your woman invest her time with you and then let someone else reap the fruits that she sowed.
- Stay true to your promise. It wasn’t only to her. It was also to God.
- We as humans often want things we can’t have and have things we take for granted.
- If you want to grow spiritually, recognize that it will happen tremendously through your marriage.
- Great way to sum things up - If you want to serve Jesus, stay single. If you want to BE like Jesus, get married.
- Keep in mind that the more difficult your spouse is, the greater potential you have for spiritual growth.
- Marriage puts a magnifying glass on every flaw and dysfunction of self.
- Your spouse can tap into every personal dysfunction within you.
- As humans, we both have weaknesses and flaws.
- Often times Differences can be judged as weaknesses because that is not how we are. (Arguing vs being silent) “I must be right because this is how I do it.”
- When you focus on something about your spouse you want to change, it grows but you don’t. So you stay stuck and immature and don’t grow.
- When I focus on SELF, God can humble me and work on ME, and I grow. If I grow, even if she doesn’t change, I may be able to grow and mature enough to be able to accept her as she is, even if she never changes.
- I can still make requests. Just stay away from demands.
- Requests bring opportunities for gifts. Demands require payment. Payment feels WAY DIFFERENT than Gifts.
- Don’t Ride Negative thoughts about a spouse. Forgive. Let It Go (TD Jakes)
- Grow up. Stop saying (I’m not that type of person to do X, Y, & Z even though she is requesting it. It may take your relationship to the next level. How are you going to want your relationship to go to the next level and not expect yourself to have to grow either? That is like expecting a promotion at work, but you have not done a thing to warrant that increase of money, position, and responsibility.
What is funny about this, is that I am not married, yet I see how this very same advice can be used and used effectively in ANY relationship.
