Marriage is War

I really treasure and desire comfort. I know that maxing out on my back squat really has no eternal significance, but I get a lot of comfort in working out.  I like it.  Actually, I love it.  Actually, I really love myself a LOT and heaven forbid that you get in the way of my crossfit WODs ... besides, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit right? Just throwing that in there for good measure.  

I also get comfort in having ALL the ingredients I need to make food for us to eat and treasure success in cooking good food.  The world is not coming to an end if on Sunday, we don't make a run to Sam's in Pearl City for a 3-pack of almond milk. But I wanted to make pancakes! ... um, for you of course.

We've been going through an amazing series in Sunday school called "What did you Expect?" by Paul David Tripp. This blog post is exactly what he talks about, and is basically compiling the last five sessions we've done.  I recommend this series to any married couple. It digs deep.

Here is a link to the DVDs: http://paultripp.com/products/wdye-dvd

Marriage is war.  I wouldn't recommend putting that on the card to go with your best friend's wedding present, it's not a very happy and encouraging thought, but marriage is a very real war.  It is a war on a spiritual level.  It is a war between the kingdom of self and the kingdom of God. What I want, and what God wants.  These desires are things that we treasure.  Comfort, time, success are just several examples and they can manifest themselves in different ways. Your treasures do not have to be possessions.  The things we treasure will be what we worship (or what rule in our heart) and that filters our response to those around us.  In James 4:1 it says,

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you?" - James 4:1

Because of our sinful, fallen nature, things of even the least importance rise to a level of crisis in our relationship and cause conflicts.  We are selfish, self-centered beings by nature, but that conflict on a horizontal level between one another cannot be resolved until it is taken care of vertically down in the heart.  Jeremiah 17:9 says,

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" - Jeremiah 17:9

"Sin causes us to shrink our lives to the size of our lives." Sin causes us to turn the people we love into objects to get what we want. When have you ever marched into the living room, angry at your spouse, thinking ... and I mean REALLY thinking, "THIS is ABOUT the kingdom of God! I must SPEAK to them!" Ha ha! Good one. Are you kidding? I know I don't.  How often are you angry because they are going against what God commands? It's usually, "I was hurt ... you did this ... I want to ... you didn't do" etc. Me, me, me, me, me.  Instead of our lives being upward (towards God) and outward (towards others), our life gets very small and turned in on us.

 Luke 12:13-21 is "The Parable of the Rich Fool",

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

 God says, "You fool!" What if you decided to live for the treasures that God desires, instead of "self-ascribed treasures and anxiety-bound needs?" What if you desired God's kingdom purposes instead of your own purposes? "You will never know the peace of the King if you are trying to be the king; peace will begin by admitting you have a problem with wanting your own kingdom more than God's." - Paul Tripp

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness...."Matthew 6:33