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Praise God and Hallelujah for another year to be the best “YOU” in 2017! This sharing won’t be about making resolutions for the new year, but more so about taking the necessary steps to be renewed in the power of your mind, heart, and spirit, particularly in the area of the marital relationship you desire. As Christians, we owe it to God and ourselves to make the most of every day by trusting and believing God’s promises. 1John 5:4,5 (The Message) says, “Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.” This is good news indeed. So if preparing yourself for matrimony just so happens to be an integral part of your New Year’s resolution, it’s going to be an awesome year for you; and here’s something that will help to make sure that it turns out exactly as you desire.
It’s no secret that patience is a very important virtue, and it must be exercised in our pursuit of a marital relationship; there can be no doubt about this. But it isn’t God’s Will that the virtuous woman of God wait year after year without her physical, emotional, and spiritual needs being met. Marriage is indeed a ministry, one of the most important and profound ministries of all. As a matter of fact, it was the first ministry that God ordained when He gave Adam and Eve to one another and told them to be fruitful and multiply. So God wants you to marry and blissfully so, and He would never withhold such a blessing from you.
1John 5:4 tells us that every child of God receives victory over the world, and this conquering power is our faith. The world wants the woman of God to buy into the fallacy that there are no good Christian men left. The world tells us all the time that we are doomed to be alone unless we commit to do all kinds of foolish things to be attractive or relevant. And then, once we’ve altered ourselves to fit the world’s standard, we are disappointed beyond belief with the results. God’s way is the way of faith! There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If we would put as much effort in building our faith as we do in other things, we’d be so much further along. It’s FAITH that produces results when it is backed up by the authority of Jesus Christ!
What does this mean for you and your commitment to be prepared for marriage in the new year? Well, one of the most effective strategies for overall success is to reduce a big undertaking down to small chewable bites. And so it is with the quest for marriage. A good place to begin is to start with what you know. You know from 1John 5:4 that “The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith.” So it’s essential that you begin to examine ways in which you can build your faith in the area where you are looking to achieve results.
And as you examine ways to build your faith, you want to remove the things that have blocked you from building it in the past. I know so many sisters who can’t get out of their own way. They have a certain set of standards, and they are unyielding when it comes to finding a man who will fit them. Common sense tells us that if you don’t like the results you’re getting, then you cannot keep doing things the same way. Something has to change. With most of us, these changes must take place inwardly. Once we change inwardly, our outward circumstances will follow suit.
When it comes to men, it’s good to have standards, but we also have to trust God. And sometimes our standards limit us from aligning ourselves with God’s standard. So we have to be be careful about this. Think about it, why would any woman of God believe that God would not bless her exceeding abundantly above what she is praying to receive? He knows what’s best for us. He knows what we need. So we have to trust Him. We have to remove these limiting beliefs from our minds and hearts, and yield “The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith.”our standard for His, because God’s standard is based solely upon His love. When everything is said and done, God wants our hearts to be broad and big enough that we can love all types of people. And this is something that we have to consider when we go before His throne.
Instead of clinging so tightly to your assumptions about what you need or don’t need, make some promises to yourself and to God that you will do more than what you’ve been doing, and do less of what didn’t work in the past. This is the best way to refresh yourself in feelings of confidence and thankfulness for what lies ahead.
It’s time out for what didn’t work yesterday, last week, and especially years gone by. Get your spiritual self in gear and let the love of God be in full effect. Commit to read and study God’s Word. Begin to dedicate yourself to mustard seed acts of faith. And always remember that much can be done with a little, and you’ll get the most out of this year as you grow in God’s love and strength.
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
“A Refresh for Your Marriage Resolution” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Times-Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2011. 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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