Recently, I've been reading Joshua Harris' Boy Meets Girl. In it, I read a good paragraph that's got me thinking.
"A couple committed to God's glory places their ultimate hope in God, not in each other. Before two people can please God as a couple, they must first be individuals who want God more than anything else and who know that only He can satisfy the deepest longings of their souls."
Eventhough, I am not in a "dating" relationship, I can still apply this concept to my life as a single person...maybe even better to start now. Am I an individual who wants God more than anything else? I hope I am. How can I really know though? Do I seek to have Christ's name exalted higher than my own? Is anything I do out of selfish ambition? Am I disappointed when things don't go as "planned," in relationships, for example? Am I doubtful of God's providence when destruction and calamities come? Are there things in me that are causing myself slower conforment to Christ?
He goes on to write, "One of my favorite authors, John Piper, has made his life message this simple but profound truth: 'God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.' What does this mean? It means that we can exalt God by trusting in Him and desiring Him above anything else in life--more than companionship, more than romance, more than marriage. When we do, our lives say louder than words that He is more fulfilling than all these things."
Companionship...that is the key one for me. Just someone to talk with who appreciates the same things I do. "Come on, God! Is it that hard?" This attitude is natural for me. One I must purge from myself. I need to be fully content with where God has placed me. God fulfills me! He does! He is all I need! This is a precious truth.
"Unlike all the fleeting pleasures of this world, when we make God the object of our soul's longing, He truly satisfies us--we find the lasting peace and joy we long for. Only then can we have a healthy, happy relationship, because instead of the relationship being our reason for living, it becomes an expression of the fact that we're living for Someone greater."
(Joshua Harris, Boy Meets Girl pg. 38)
5 comments:
That book should be required reading for all young people.
And it's what he writes in there is why I suggest to everyone NEVER to read another dating book again!
Because each one has some say in how to do it, or what to look for or blah blah blah. I'd rather continue living my live for the Glory of God than to sit and think about how I'm going to find the right person to marry. I'll let God figure that one out.
I am glad you read it, make sure to recommend it to others ;)
there's too much to be done in the kingdom to keep you busy for a lifetime...pursue that!
luv ya girl, you spoke to my heart.
joey
This is the book that broke the camels back for me ,and cause me to to leave the previous mega church I had been attending.
When I read it,I thought(Wow!) This guy (Josh) must be a calvinst. As I read on, just moments later he quoted Calvin. I was excited. I wanted to be part of a Church like that,that had accountability and sound doctrine.I had seen too many people in and out of relationships ,and so many compromising. I wanted nothing to do with that. Plus,I wanted to find my future wife in a godly way like Josh. With lots of accountability and wise counsel.
I don't think the primary problem is that divorce is to easy to get, rather, it is too easy for people to get married. There reasons are to low and not high and lofty enough. How many within our churches get married primarily to glorify God? How many have? How many would respond that the chief end of marriage is to glorify God?
Whatever we do, if we eat, drink, or if we are married or single may all of us blood bought saints glorfiy God.
Amen... great post, and a very good and much-needed book for today's society!
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