Ruminations and Ramifications

Find me on the practice field

As I consider life and all that it has to offer, I can't help but consider marriage. Now, I realize that I am unique and important independent of a relationship. I have a lot to offer independent of a relationship. On any given day I've got a million things I want to try out on this planet before I die. Heck, just today I was revisiting my desire to get my law degree. But I digress.

If you're anything like me, sometimes you have to be reminded several times to do something. Especially if it's not anything high on your priority list. Well, God knows this and sometimes has to introduce something in a repetitive manner in my life in order for me to catch on. He did that with a book in the sidebar here, When God Writes Your Love Story. It's been an intriguing read so far. It's definitely spoken to me.

The part that coincides most with where I am in life (besides, well, all of it) is the part about the family.

When we condition ourselves to run away and disown those who are most familiar with us, we're preparing ourselves for a disastrous future. Our lives consist of relationships. God designed us for family. Intimate family relationships are among the most difficult things we must deal with as humans, because closeness leads to the exposure of who we really are, inside and outside. We young people have a very short period in our life that God seems to give us for practice.

Family isn't just in our past; it's very much in our future, too. And I guarantee you that if you train yourself to model Christ now to those most familiar and close, you will be superb at it when you get married.

Family is our practice field. We take into our future marriage what we learn in our life with "them" [meaning our immediate families] in the here and now. If we learn to snub and disown those closest to us now, we're setting habit patterns for broken trust and emotional heartache in the future. If we train ourselves in the here and now to verbally abuse our family members, we will be conditioning ourselves to bite rather than bless in the future.

Isn't that the truth? If I could re-type out this whole chapter on the family, how our immediate family tends to receive the brunt of the darkest end of the spectrum of who we "truly" are, I would. But I think you should just read the book.

Labels: marriage, practical theology, this is me before

posted by Marcian @ 9:04 PM