Wisdom and "The Ministry of Marriage"

So much has happened in my heart this year and in the way that I worship God. So much has changed in how I live by faith. So much has shaken me to the core and caused me to cling to God's Word and the promises within it's pages. So many verses have jumped off the page and rung my bell. So many sermons have spoken to me and called me to dig deeper and attempt to apply scripture to my walk. Through the victories and failures I am learning to fail forward. And one area that I desperately want to align myself in accordance with the Bible is in the area of relationships leading up to marriage.

About a year ago give or take a few months I went on a wisdom rampage. Devouring Proverbs daily for almost 6 months. Studying the life of Solomon and listening for Wisdom in a sea of Podcasts. I asked for Wisdom, prayed for Wisdom, searched for Wisdom, hungered and thirsted for the kind of Wisdom that comes from Christ. If you knew me in that season of my life I'm sure you heard me speak of some kind of desire to know, have and exercise Wisdom in life. I don't regard myself to be a wise man, I have a long way to go. A long road to walk with Jesus and to be sanctified along the way. Yet, in these days right now, over a year later, wisdom is calling again. I've been confronted with a truth that the wise thing for me to do right now is to learn from my mistakes in failed relationships and do what I can to prepare myself for marriage. It sounds corny even as I type that last sentence but the calling to enter the covenant of marriage is no small task. I have been confronted by Christ to live out my faith now in a way that will bring glory to God later in life through the ministry of marriage. Who a man is as a husband and father to a large degree shapes who he is as a minister of the Gospel.

This entire calling to grow in this area of life started when I listened to a series by Craig Groeschel called "The Vow." That series came in and rocked me to the core. I wasn't even thinking much about marriage but the Truth and the Wisdom could not be ignored in my life. Jesus was speaking to me and guiding me with this series. Then a few days ago a book at the bookstore caught my eye by Voddie Baucham. The book is called "WHAT HE MUST BE ...if he wants to marry my daughter." The book has further confronted me with the sad statistics of the state of marriage in our culture and called me to strive and pray and prepare myself for a marriage that exalts God's Word and functions in the way marriage was intended to bring Him glory. I am now concerned with what I must become.

There are some things a man simply must be before he is qualified to assume the role of a Christian husband. For instance, he must be a Christian (2 Corinthians 6:14); he must be committed to Biblical headship (Ephesians 5:23); he must welcome children (Psalm 127:3-5); he must be a suitable priest (Joshua 24:15), prophet (Ephesians 6:4), protector (Nehemiah 4:13-14), and provider (1 Timothy 5:8; Titus 2:5).

I desire to honor God's Word and strive to become a man who will love his wife and lay his life down for her. I want to learn from the mistakes I've made in the past and do what I can now to walk with God in obedience to His Word. I want to be victorious in the battle for purity. I want to learn to lead in love, to lead in The Word, to lead in righteousness and to lead in selflessness. I want the world to know through my marriage that Christ has changed my life by grace.

*Words in bold by Voddie Baucham from "What He Must Be"