King of the Hill

For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:  "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. -Galatians 5:13-15

During Adult Sunday School, we have been watching a video series about redeeming marriage called "What Did You Expect?" by Paul David Tripp.  This has been the best and most helpful tool I have ever seen for getting to the heart of marital conflict.  I was struck by some of his points today and thought I would share them.

• "Marriage is flawed person, married to a flawed person, in a fallen world, but with a faithful God."

• "Happiness is not to be the end result of marriage;  rather, marriage is the process by which we grow to be more like Christ. " Marriage is a pivotal tool in our sanctification.
• "True righteousness only ever begins when you come to the end of yourself."
• "There will be some lasting legacy that you will produce from your influence in the life of your spouse."   Am I saying or doing things to my spouse that I never would have considered during courtship?
• When we live in the Kingdom of Self, we live under the lordship of "my desires" We manipulate to get what we want.
• My problem isn't that I don't love my spouse enough, it's that I don't love God enough.  If I am attempting to be king, I am lacking love for the KING.

These are a few of the helpful concepts that I encountered in the last lesson.  The idea of addressing my relationship with God before trying to fix my marriage, is much more authentic and helpful.  It gets to the heart of the matter.