Sermon Note #9

Sermon note:  Everywhere I go, there I am.

I bring myself into every relationship. Be it marriage, parenting, friendships, or co-workers, I can only control myself. This is one of the most important life lessons my parents taught me and one I hope to instill in my children.

"Change me, Lord" is one of the most powerful prayers I can pray.

For me, God has used my marriage to test me in this the most.

In Tim Keller's book "The Meaning of Marriage," he references a Broom Hilda comic strip. In the comic, the not-so-smart troll asks the studious buzzard "What is marriage?" The buzzard replies "Marriage is when two people become one"....and then the troll responds "but which one do they become?"

I've never been able to find this particular comic strip, but if I did find it, I would print it out and put it on my fridge as a daily reminder: my husband is not me! Even if I think my ways of doing things are superior, I doubt he is going to wake up one morning and finally see the light. Marriage brings two different people with two different backgrounds and two different personalities and two different parenting styles and two different spending habits together under one roof. I can only control one of those two people. As hard as this is at times, it's made easier by remembering that -- as a Christian -- I should always be striving to be more like Christ. If that's my goal, and if I re-focus my attitude and change my own behavior to reflect Jesus Christ, my relationships will undoubtedly improve as a result.

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