On Marriage, from Francis Chan

I recently acquired Francis Chan's You and Me Forever: Marriage in light of Eternity and have enjoyed the intro and first chapter so far. Here are a couple SOLID excerpts, with which I completely agree:

"Eternal-mindedness keeps us from silly arguments. There's no time to fight. We have better things to pursue than our interests. Too much is at stake! God created us for a purpose. We can't afford to waste our lives. We can't afford to waste our marriage by merely pursuing our own happiness...
...we have grieved as we watched couples pursue happiness while neglecting their mission on earth... I can't tell you how many times we agonized for those who were missing out on God's blessing and His intent for marriage.... We are sad for the hurting couples; it breaks our hearts, actually. But we are even more brokenhearted about the effect it has on the Kingdom. We are sad because godly marriages magnify God's ingenious creation, but few marriages radiate that glory. We are sad about the victory Satan enjoys in watching couples call themselves "Christian" while living idly, living for themselves. We are devastated by how many choose divorce over obeying the King. The sad state of marriage makes the bride of Christ look dirty and unattractive."

"We need to prioritize our eternal relationship with our Creator above all things. Besides, until you relate properly to God, you won't be much help to anyone else. People who aren't living well make matters worse by living together.
When two people are right with Him, they will be right with each other. As a pastor for over 20 years, I have come to the conclusion that most marriage problems are not really marriage problems. They are God problems. They can be traced back to one or both people having a poor relationship with God or a faulty understanding of Him. An accurate picture of God is vital to a healthy marriage. It's vital to everything. As A.W. Tozer put it, 'All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared with that overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him.'"

Comments

  1. Peter BrandtDecember 23, 2017 at 6:36 AM

    Right on.
    The quote I love is "I have come to the conclusion that most marriage problems are not really marriage problems. They are God problems. "
    They are still calling all the shots. God is a great "buddy", but not Lord/King of their lives. Their old self is still pretty much alive.
    It really does take three to make a marriage what it is designed to be. But only One of the three must be in control.
    This goes for marriage, but of course must involve all of our lives.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AdeleSeptember 22, 2018 at 1:03 AM

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