Reflecting on a specific message is a great way to train that type of thinking into your daily mindset. Take your time if you’re choosing a verse of the year, or a life verse or marriage verse. When we think about how the Lord teaches us faith through baby steps, it provides a good foundation to pick one thing to focus on as a goal.
When choosing a verse of the year, be intentional about the reality of you choosing to live it out. You can pick one that is generic yet pointed all at the same time.
I’ll present our wedding verse as an example and walk through it and how we have changed in our understanding of it.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:9-12, NIV
When we chose this verse, we committed to each other the directives mentioned. We wanted to have life goals aligned with God’s first, then each other.
Love must be sincere.
We never understood this until our marriage was on the rocks. It wasn’t until that point that we started from the ground up and learned what love really was, true unconditional love, as well as sincerity. Having been in a shallow, conditional marriage placed a lot of uneasiness and pressure on us both. We were both guilty of this thinking. Now that we have walked through that valley it is so much clearer to see how God’s love is TRULY unconditional and sincere.
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Our lives were blessed in worldly ways and we expected to coast into Heaven. When problems arose from sin, we hit a crossroads and needed to make hard stands. We were taught to hate evil and flee from it. No longer were we under the impression that Heaven was easy to attain.
This is not a flimsy verse to merely skim over, it holds great truths. While seemingly so simple, it is profound.
Be devoted to one another in … love.
This is how I would present this verse. There was great value deleted where my ellipses (…) was placed. The verse reads “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” You see, I had the misunderstanding that brotherly love was inaccurate to describe the love a husband and wife should hold for each other. When we look at this verse in context, we see that the entirety of chapter 12 is teaching us how to be a member of a greater body of believers.
It is in brotherly love that we see each other through a lens of Christianity. We will want what is ultimately best for our brothers in Christ, we will want them to live holy lives, we will want them to end their race in Heaven. So, too, within a marriage. That ought to be our primary mindset.
Honor one another above yourselves.
Well, I think anyone in a marriage can tell you this is always hard to achieve. Naturally, we all think of self first. It is only through training and forethought that we can strive to accomplish this. Though much failure continues, it is a continual goal to strive for and to remind yourself of the benefits it produces.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
There are times when depression and valleys hit. To have a basis of faith behind the heavy emotions that can threaten to overtake our thoughts is of great comfort. Train your focus be on Christ first and foremost.
Zeal and fervor both have a basis in their meanings of earnestness. Let’s be earnest about serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
These 3 instructions are paramount to our life in Christ. They very well sum up our guidelines for living in this world. Our hope and reward is Heaven, this causes a deep joy regardless of circumstances. Patience in affliction is where our faith grows, through the baby steps as we learn to trust God to lead us and guide us through this life. Being faithful in prayer is the bread and butter to our walk. Our prayer life is the way we communicate to God, it is foundational to our faith.
I hope this breakdown inspires you in choosing a verse of the year, a life verse, or marriage verse.
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Submitting our life to the truth from Scripture is such a great foundation for a year—and for a life!