Relationship 101
I am very thankful and fortunate to be married to the love of my life. We married way back in 1986. I’ll let you do the math.
Something is interesting about being totally committed to one person in the bond of marriage. It brings an end to playing the field and thinking only of oneself.
I realize that my way of thinking could seem strange to a more modern generation, but many still find it true. Our relationship would not be what it is today if we had felt it would be proper to see others or live only for ourselves. We would not be together if that were the case.
I am wholly and devotedly still with my wife Sheila, enjoying our empty nest and doing life together because I love her, and she loves me. Neither of us feels trapped; we want to be together and are grateful we have each other. We’re in our happy place!
That is not to say we have never argued or faced extremely difficult situations together. Jesus said, “in this world, you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” We have found that to be true, and the tribulations are multifaceted.
Every relationship has its own set of challenges. This is true of a person’s relationship with Christ. Just as I gave up a style of life as a single person when I met and married Sheila, anyone who is a believer leaves behind their old way of living to do life with Jesus.
Just as Sheila left her father and mother to be with me and start a family, a person who comes to Jesus is willing to part with anything that might interfere with their relationship with Jesus.
This is really what Romans six is getting at when it offers us sound instruction on living in the freedom we’ve received in Christ.
Romans 6:12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. 15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. 19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is not about being righteous to earn a relationship with God. A believer in Jesus already has a relationship with God through faith in Christ. This is about how that relationship produces good fruit contrary to what a person was and how they thought before they came to know Jesus. I’ve been joined to Christ, and that has produced a completely different way of life for me than what I had before I came to know Him. This change is not the result of a have to or else mindset in me. It is not something I regret now after forty years of journey. I am most grateful for the change Jesus brought into my life, and I am most joyful and happy when I know I am living in submission to the will of the Spirit as a devoted disciple of Jesus. I encourage you to embrace the deep abiding joy that is yours when surrendered to the Spirit and living in sync with whom you have indeed become in Christ. In Christ, you’ve been set free! Enjoy that freedom the way it is meant to be enjoyed.
