Over the past few months, I have been reflecting on the man I have matured into was since writing Get Your Act Together, A 30 Day Accountability Journal, and I am proud of the work that the Lord has done on me, and the way the Lord has used other’s in my life to work on my divided heart.
Lately, the Lord has used someone very powerful to work on a tough issue that I write about in my second book to show me the power of biblical marriage and oneness in marriage. I have seen how the enemy has used this issue in my life against me due to fear and what has happened in illness. Due to these fear, the enemy will use all type of schemes and tactics to target us to destroy our perceptions of how God wants to truly use us love and each other in the glorious context of marriage to serve one another and His Kingdom on Earth.
Through some very deep conversations with an individual in my life as of late, I am learning a deeper meaning of what Ephesians 5:21 is implying. I am learning what the Godly, biblical role of a husband role of a husband is meant to be. I have spent a great majority of my life dealing with restlessness when it comes to relationships. Part of me has always felt like a monk and part of me always knew that I needed the physical aspect in marriage. This is why I could never commit fully to becoming a monk, because I would be wanting a life of physical intimacy. In the past, I have always struggled to find a balance of spending time with the person I dated and needing large amounts of quiet time with myself and God.
Through recent discussions, I am learning that time with a mate is an alternative path to Christ and a path to Christ itself. I am learning that through this path, Christ refines your heart to the core, and accountability is learned at it’s core, to loving your mate as “Christ loved the Church.
I have a very special friend who has had the Lord work through her to teach me these concepts. It's a crash course for me that takes me deep into questions and things I have prayed for guidance on for the past three years. I feel so much power in these conversations. The hand of Christ in each of these interactions. I feel humbled. Torn down to the core at times where pride and sin may have reigned. I can see where the enemy has used certain tactics to keep me in bondage, yet where Jesus has patiently waited and showed me His vision for me to conduct myself as a man.
As I continue to learn some of these things that are very private to me right now, and perhaps will be a book down the road, I can say that there is accountability in loving your partner as men as Christ loved the church. Loving those closest to us in life refines our character. It helps to sharpen our senses, anticipate our partners needs, softens our hearts, and helps to hold an emotionally safe space for those that we love. It does teach us how to sacrifice and put someone else’s needs above our own, just as Christ did for us on the cross. If you are in a relationship or in a marriage, I encourage you to read Ephesian’s 5:21. Go to your wife or those you trust and see how you can better love the one you are with.
This is why Jesus died on the cross, so our sins maybe redeemed. So that we may step out of the halls of ingorance and that we maybe given new life. I feel that I am being given new life because of this person's perspective and love. That’s all I have to say for myself today.