We are going through the book of Song of Solomon in my Sunday School class, what a great book on how relationships should be.
Our culture has filled our heads with false notions of what sex and relationships should be. We’ve bought into it, whether we know it or not, we have.
Part of what destroys marriages (and people) in the church is that we think we have to be perfect, we think somehow that we can never make a mistake. We spend all of our time projecting an image of what we think the perfect married couple should be. Eventually, our problems will get so out of control we can’t hide them any more and we’re out, once the “shoe drops” we give up and think “oh well, we blew it…” and the couple divorces thinking they can start over.
This is a terrible way to live life, because we will never be perfect. The Jews in the first century were great at thinking they could follow the law, but no one can. If you think you can follow the letter of the law, you are fooling yourself (see the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7).
Even if you did dating & courtship perfectly (and few of us did) you will make mistakes along the way. If you were not pure on your wedding day, you are not alone. If you or your spouse have been unfaithful, this is a terrible thing, but it’s not the end of the world, we serve a God of restoration…
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten
-Joel 2:25
God will take your mistakes, the things that you wish you had done differently, and he can restore it. Our savior is the carpenter’s son, he fixes things. It’s usually not too late, allow God’s healing power to restore that which has been destroyed.
Our God is a God of grace, not just for salvation at the end of our lives, but for life every day. We’re not perfect, we make mistakes, we always will. It’s not that you have to keep yourself 100% clean, you just need to know where to go to get clean…
Let him heal your life, let him restore your marriage.
