October 16, 2006
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Monday Marriage Musings
A few years ago three young men in our small church left home to go to college in Washington, Kentucky and Florida. Last Christmas each brought home his “beloved” to our valley for a visit. The three couples spent one day snowboarding together. This Christmas, within a space of three weeks, these three young couples will be getting married in three different states. It is such a joy to see how God has blessed these ones we’ve known and loved and watched since they were young boys. I’ve had each of them as students and one of these dear boys is my own son.
In my daily reading, any sentences appropos to marriage get my attention like a flashing light in a rear view mirror. I would enjoy sharing my gleanings on a weekly basis, as time allows.
Funny story: When my beloved and I were engaged we were given a list of books on marriage to read. One of the books was Elisabeth Elliot’s Let Me Be a Woman. Curt was told to read this book even though it was written for women. At the time he was binding cardboard boxes at the dump for City Garbage when he wasn’t taking classes. His co-workers were rough, crusty, unpolished…..raw. His lunch hour was prime reading time but he knew there was no way he would survive in that job if he were caught reading that title. He removed the dust jacket and was always careful to hold the book so the spine didn’t show!
Surely it is impossible to love “too much,” for love is from God, who is Love. Usually we love
too little and too sentimentally. Our love, God-given though it be, is usually mixed up with
possessiveness and selfishness. It needs strengthening and purifying. Human love is often
inordinate, which means disorderly, unregulated, unrestrained, not limited to the usual bounds.
If we love someone more than we love God, it is worse than inordinate – it is idolatry. When
God is first in our hearts, all other loves are in order and find their rightful place. If God is not
first, other loves, even those which are in no sense sexual, easily turn into self-gratification and
therefore destroy both the lover and the beloved. Elisabeth Elliot in Loneliness
Comments (1)
Eagerly I will look forward to your musings on marriage.
I, too, remember the books our pastor *assigned* to us in our pre-marital counseling. And recently bought the updated versions of what he recommends. Yup, same guy who married us will marry our daughter in 70 days!!