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I’ve endeavored to provide Godly counsel and advice to countless of God’s beautiful daughters throughout the years. Many of them are single, and I have witnessed that some have allowed their relationships with men to completely consume their lives. The wants and needs of the man take center-stage, and all other priorities fall beneath his desires. I have also noticed that many sisters who do this will deny it. Either they aren’t clear about the level of commitment God requires from all believers or they simply are not driven by a desire to put God first. Either way, placing or prioritizing any relationship over our relationship with God is probably the most dangerous thing that any of us can do and here’s how it injures our quest for marriage.

Broken commandment
God’s first commandment to His people in Exodus 20:3 , is that we can’t have any other gods before Him. He is sovereign, holy, and like no other. He is love, and nothing comes before Him. In earlier biblical periods, people would make idols from metal and clay, and then worship them; or they would choose something in nature or the cosmos, like the sun or moon, and begin to worship it. They worshiped the creation and not the Creator. People in modern times are more apt to worship other people, and often don’t realize they are doing it. Many of us worship celebrities and in the case of our significant relationships, some of us worship the other person. The telling sign is the compromises we make, especially as it relates to our spiritual walk in Christ.

Another indication is how much of our thought life is focused on this person. Some women have their boyfriends on their brains 24/7. God’s commandment is that we put on the mind of Christ. This means we are to think like Christ thought. The main occupation of the thoughts of Jesus Christ was how he could please the Father. We must ask ourselves if this is our main objective as well.

Worshiping is what we do; we’re created for it. Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 6:24 that we can’t serve two masters at the same time. We can talk a whole lot about why we are here on this earth, but the truth is that we are here to make a choice. We will choose to worship and serve our God through the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Or, we will choose to worship the god of this world, satan. Those are the only two choices available to all of humanity. We will belong to one kingdom or the other, and only choosing the Kingdom of God will allow us to live an eternity in His love.

There is no in-between, and this upsets a lot of people. They want to be neutral and not make a choice. There is no place in the universe where a stance of neutrality is honored. We are here on this earth to choose who we will serve, and we make this choice with every passing moment. If we are not serving God, we are breaking His commandment and serving the devil.

Worship belongs to God
God is the Creator of worship, so it wouldn’t make any sense whatsoever for us to think we can tell Him how worship is achieved. Jesus Christ said in John 4:24(NLT), “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” Simple logic tells us that if something isn’t the truth, it is a lie. If we are not putting God first in all things, and loving Him with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength; we are not worshiping Him in spirit and in truth; for truth can only be found in loving God in the way He has decreed.

Romans 12:1 tells us that God has given us His mercy, and because of it we have the distinguished honor to present our entire being before Him as a living and holy sacrifice, and this is our spiritual worship. When we are so consumed with pleasing the boo that we forfeit our allegiance to God to pleasure ourselves or the man, who are we worshiping with that choice? Not Heavenly Father, and we have to keep it 100 about this.

Ephesians 1:11(NLT) tells us, “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” Heavenly Father knows you through and through, and He has a plan for your life. He wants you partnered with the man that is in your destiny, according to His perfect Will. Trust this with your whole heart. Know that the blessing of marital unity, harmony, and strength is directly connected to our worship of the One True Living God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, it’s the choices we make that bring the blessing of marriage closer to us or drives it further away. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“True Worship and the Blessing of Marriage” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019.  All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.

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