The topic of the night was marriage and remarriage. When I heard this I was like ok....how do I apply this? I'M NOT MARRIED....not even in a relationship....SINGLE! How does this apply to me? I am not go to go into detail about we discussed because I will not be able to articulate it well but basically the punch line of the evening was

Remember the Value of Marriage

  

The pastor went back to Genesis and pointed out some pretty cool things

1. Marriage is to be a reflection of community and relationship between a Triune God (mirror reflection of God) therefore our greatest satisfaction in marriage is when this mirror image can be seen

2. When united as one flesh more then just a physical sense, "two people headed in the same direction, while maintaining who you are and your own gifts"

One flesh literally means -ONE unit, when I think of that I think of same thoughts actions, reactions, emotions etc.

 

 

So how does this apply to me? Well this is what I came up with based on prior knowledge

1. CHOOSE CAREFULLY -- since my marriage is to represent or have an mirror image to God I don't want to be doing that with just the average Joe. I want that person to be best qualified to match me so that we can function as a single unit

2. WAIT -- becoming one flesh is more then just becoming physically one person but also emotionally. Having been in a few relationships myself, as we developed those emotions for each other we give them to that person. And in return I got some of theirs. Now since we were connected in that way we are now separated I am not 'whole' as  I once was. Now God is a God of restoration but some things can not be taken back. Due to the value of marriage and what it represents I was reminded that guarding my heart is so important.

3. DATING FOR MARRIAGE -- The value of marriage is so high that it should not be messed with. ex. If you were hanging something on a wall you wouldn't start just drilling random holes until you found a spot but rather you would think it through so that it would look great and have no extra holes in the wall. Same with dating, you don't want to date around until you find something you like, rather you wait until you know for certain that Mr. or Mrs. Right is actually right.

I wrote this out a while back but I think its one of those things that can be a reminder to us. It was an interesting and challenging motion that was put forward and is often hard to except. But if one does then the results will be beyond what was ever imagined!