My wife and I celebrated 9 years of marriage yesterday, and I am blown away at how much has changed since the day we said "I Do". We have moved three times, had three children, and worked with three churches. But the biggest differences come in our relationship: how much deeper we love, fuller we know, and intimately we understand each other. Well...marriage teaches us about our relationship to God, so we need to ask ourselves: has our relationship with God grown over the years in this way? Do I love him deeper, know him fuller, and understand him more intimately than the day I obeyed the gospel?
#SetYourMindAbovePodcast
My wife and I celebrated 9 years of marriage yesterday, and I am blown away at how much has changed since the day we said "I Do". We have moved three times, had three children, and worked with three churches. But the biggest differences come in our relationship: how much deeper we love, fuller we know, and intimately we understand each other. Well...marriage teaches us about our relationship to God, so we need to ask ourselves: has our relationship with God grown over the years in this way? Do I love him deeper, know him fuller, and understand him more intimately than the day I obeyed the gospel?
#SetYourMindAbovePodcast
What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day?
What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths?
Would you believe me?
Hi, I’m BJ Sipe – and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast.
I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father.
Thanks for tuning in!
There are days that are very important to every individual. Sometimes it’s a holiday, such as Christmas, Easter, or the 4th of July. Maybe it is more personal, such as the day you graduated college, or the day you broke ground on a new home, or something to that effect. But for me, perhaps the most important day of the entire year was yesterday – October 18th. That is because yesterday was my wedding anniversary with my wonderful, beautiful wife Kylie – our ninth wedding anniversary to be exact. Now, it didn’t exactly go as planned, because Kylie and I spent the day sick – it was our turn to catch whatever junk seems to be going around this time of year. Tis the season, I suppose. But that did not for a second change the significance of what yesterday meant to me. Our anniversary is so significant, because it commemorates the day that we exchanged our vows before God to each other and began this journey of life together as husband and wife. As we sat talking yesterday, one of the things that we reflected on is just how much has changed over the past nine years in our relationship. There have been significant developments since the day we said, “I do.” We have lived in three different states and worked with three different churches. We have been through 7 vehicles, 4 apartments and 1 home. We have had five pregnancies, and from those have been blessed with three children. But what is perhaps even more significant than these huge, drastic changes in our life have been the changes in the way that Kylie and I have grown in our relationship to each other. The day that I married my wife, I loved her, but I could not begin to fathom that love would mature and grow in the years to come. I know my wife so much more deeply and intimately than I did nearly ten years ago. We trust one another more fully, and as a whole are far more comfortable with one another than at the beginning of our marriage. I understand her better, know her likes and dislikes, as well as what she means when she says certain things or does certain things. It has been the most wonderful and incredible journey, and I know that our relationship will only continue to deepen and grow in the years and years to come. But just pause for a moment and consider this – how terrible would it be if that wasn’t the case? What would it say about our marriage if we had all of these other things happen that perhaps could lead to growth (such as moves, children, etc.) – and yet after all these years of marriage our relationship had really not changed all that much? We didn’t know each other better, didn’t love each other deeper, and didn’t have significant ways in which we had become more intimately “one” as God had designed? What would you say about that kind of relationship?
I ask this because I want us to consider our own covenant relationships today. No, not our own marriages, but our own relationships with God. Paul tells us that marriage ultimately is a mystery that teaches us about our own relationship with God as the church. Consider what he writes in Ephesians 5:31-32, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.” God is the author of marriage, and he designed it in such a way to teach us about our own relationship with God whom we are in a covenant relationship with as well. So let me ask you this: how different is your relationship with God today than it was the day that you entered into one with him? We might immediately point to different things – such as churches I’ve attended over the past several years, or classes I’ve been a part of, things of that nature. But that doesn’t answer the question. I want us to look deeply into our faith & our walk and ask ourselves – have I truly grown in my relationship with God the way that I should? Consider Paul’s prayer for the Colossians in chapter 1:9-12, “For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.” Paul had come to learn of the faith that these people had come to, and that they were now walking in covenant relationship with God. As such, he prayed that the following would take place in each of their lives. He prayed that they would be filled with all spiritual knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. This is the first question we should ask ourselves: do you know a great amount more about God now than the day you obeyed the gospel? Do you understand him clearer and approach his Word with more understanding and confidence? If we are growing the way that we should in our relationship towards God, these kinds of things should be present in our lives. Our knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of God & his Word should be drastically greater than it was in years past. If that’s not the case, what does that say about our relationship with God? Second, he prays that they walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work. This is the second question we need to ask ourselves: has my walk and work I do in Christ changed significantly since the day I started my journey of faith? Am I continuing to put off the old man, walking by faith through denying myself? Am I dedicated to more and more good works that bear fruit for the kingdom of God? If I look back at my years of being a Christian and see that I’m still struggling with the same things as I was in the beginning, and I’m not bearing any fruit or challenging myself to do anything new in my work of service to God, then what does that say about our relationship with God? Finally, Paul prays that they increase in their knowledge of God. Not their knowledge about God, but their knowledge of God. There is a big difference between knowing God & knowing about God, just as there is a big difference between knowing your spouse and knowing about your spouse. Ask yourself this question: do I know God more fully and deeply than the day I became a Christian? Is my relationship with him more intimate? Do I trust him more fully? Love him more completely? Understand him with more clarity? If the answer is no, then what does that say about our relationship with God? My friends, we are called to spiritual growth in our relationship with God. It should be a natural part of our lives, but it doesn’t come without great effort and intent. Just as I have pursued my wife over these past 9 years to come to know her better, we are called to pursue our God to come to know him. To diligently seek him, and grow in his grace and our knowledge of him. It is my prayer that each and every single one of us can examine our own relationships with God, and see significant growth with each passing year as we are dedicated to come to know him more fully as our Creator, our Redeemer, and our King.
Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I would invite you back every Thursday for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for future announcements or even some special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, share it with someone else that you think would benefit from it also. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.