Commitment

The past few weeks we have been looking at the teachings of 2 Timothy through the lens of dating and relationships. After all this is a letter written to a young man from an older mentor, full of impassioned counsel from a man at the end of his life. Early in the book Paul warns Timothy to “guard” the good deposit and to be a good “soldier” for the Lord. It was with this in mind that I thought of this series:

I believe desperately that the most important decision you can make in life is to trust Jesus Christ. Second to that would be choosing the person you are to marry. Which leads me to view the dating scene as very important. Those you choose to surround yourself with will impact the decisions you make.

The Bible reveals that there is a very real enemy who appears as an “angel of light,” (2 Corinthians 11:14) but wants to “steal, kill and destroy” our lives and relationships (John 10:10).  There is a spiritual battle that is contending for our souls constantly and too often we compartmentalize our spiritual life to just Sundays and/or Wednesdays.

Then we see that there are real people that seek to destroy us, confuse and seduce us (Proverbs 7). Seduction is tough to recognize because it is so appealing and seems so right. Seduction comes in many forms, whether it is the lie of pornography promises great satisfaction that only leads you empty, or a person in our life that “just gets me.” In the end, these cheap imitations of the real thing will always destroy us (Proverbs 7:27).

And so as a soldier we need to approach our dating and selection of a spouse with Honor, Courage and Commitment. Honor: we need to have personal integrity, a sincere faith and guard our hearts. Courage: we to bravely flee from the entrappings of the dating scene and boldly follow godly examples. Commitment: we need to hold fast to what God says no matter what our culture, friends or even family tell us, knowing that the true prize is Jesus Christ.

Commitment

 

If you would take a few moments to survey the entertainment landscape and consider the message that music, movies and TV is teaching us about relationships, what do you think you will come up with? How will these teachings stand up to Scriptural teachings?

Once upon a time, the rating system was helpful in keeping certain topics reserved for adults. Whether the content was good or bad is one issue, but at least it was reserved for those who were supposed to be old enough to discern for themselves. Yet I am amazed at how the topic of sexuality and romantic relationships are being pushed on younger and younger generations. Even the Disney channel has teenage soap opera like messages for children.

Sadly I am no longer surprised by how the TV shows depict how the first kiss leads straight to sex.  Relationships have been reduced to flirtatious sexual urges. Self-centered, sexual objectification underlies almost every scene. On top of that, we find ourselves, through entertainment, desiring for the sinful choice to be made. For example, they create the heroine’s husband to be a jerk, distant and stupid, and her co-worker the “guy she always deserved.” We want the divorce to happen so our favorite characters can be together…I have a problem with that. When our entertainment tells us that “what is wrong is right and what is right is wrong” (Isaiah 5:20).

This is no longer just part of our entertainment, it is a philosophy our entire culture has adapted to. This is the type of thing Paul is warning Timothy about in 2 Timothy chapter 3.

The Pursuit of Happiness…

“God just wants me to be happy,” is a phrase I am so sick of hearing. It sort of sounds good, but the true meaning of this statement is sickening. Most of the time someone is using this phrase to justify the sin in their life. This is the spirit that opens the third chapter. People are “loves of self…, without self-control… and lovers of pleasure rather then godliness.”

When happiness becomes our initial draw we are setting a course for destruction. God is so gracious to not give me everything I want. There are so many times that I want something and later I realize that would have been the worst thing for me. We don’t always know what will truly make us happy. Yet Jesus promises that when we love Him, pursue Him that He will give us abundant life (John 10:10).

As C.S. Lewis said, “Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth 'thrown in': aim at Earth and you will get neither.”

Absence of Power…

You ever see someone who looked to be super strong, but it was all a show? I had a friend who lived on the dorm that I was the RA on in college who was like this. He was at the gym all the time building the “vanity” muscles and he looked so strong. Yet he had no power at all. One day, I heard this muffled scream and squeal coming from down the hall. As the RA I knew I had to go check it out. What I saw was this guy getting bested in a wrestling match with another guy who never worked out and looked smaller. Here we see an appearance of strength with no real power.

Similarly, many Christians or “fake Christians” are walking around looking good, but having no power at all. In many ways, they are following the Bible, but they keep holding back from true obedience to Christ. And today, sexuality is one of the biggest areas that people do not want to surrender to Jesus.

Disobedience to Jesus leads us to living a powerless life. We may be able to talk the talk, and fool one another, but we can never fool God. Soon, just as Jannes and Jambrews were shown to be powerless, our true colors will be revealed.

Our only hope is to repent, stop sinning and turn to Jesus. He is always waiting to receive us in and to strengthen us again (1 John 1:9).

Source of Strength

You may say you are not a reader, but you are. You just have to want to read it. It is evident in the Facebook statuses you read, the Tweets you devour and the magazines you peruse. If it’s interesting to you, you will read it. Like the “7 thing that will make you lose belly fat,” or “10 foods to avoid,” or “how to drop 2 dress sizes by June.” Sure it might just be one article and not a book, but you read all the time. The problem is, what you are reading isn’t leading to true power.

God has given us His Word for our good. It is inspired, meaning it came directly from God, is reliable and powerful. You can trust the Bible. God, after all, is our Creator, so you’d think He has some pretty good ideas of how we are to live life to the fullest.

He knows what is right, what is not right, how we can get right and how we can stay right. He hasn’t kept these secret, but revealed them in the Bible. Now we need to read it, compare our life to it and weigh everything by it.

The promise is that when you turn to God’s Word you will be complete, lacking nothing. That’s huge. So many of you are seeking completeness in broken relationships. Going between one and then another will not bring wholeness to you. However, God, through His Word will bring that completeness.

Trusting God’s promises for your sexual and relational pursuits will bring great reward. I want to qualify “great reward.” As a young man I wanted desperately for Jesus to return, but I wanted Him to wait until I was married. You know, I wanted to have sex and kids and stuff. Yet today, I understand that the true prize is Jesus.

Let me say that again, the true prize IS Jesus. He is our great reward. When you become a Christian, you are committing to Jesus. He freely offers salvation, forgiveness and a relationship with Him. Is He enough for you? That question will challenge your commitment.