And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together." Matthew 19:5-6
What do you think of when you hear the word "commitment"? Do you think of something you have to do or something you get to do? We make a lot of commitments in our time and our relationships. Because of this, we may find ourselves breaking some of our commitments out of sheer busyness or exhaustion. When this happens, our "get to" becomes our "have to." If we are not careful, we can be tempted to adopt this mindset in our marriages. Marriage is one of the most important commitments we make in our lives, but when your mindset changes from "I get to commit to this person" to "I have to commit to this person," our marriages will start to become sick. Today, we're going to shift our perspective from "have to" to "get to."
Yesterday we talked about the creation of Adam and Eve, and the unity that God calls for in marriage. Today, we are going to look at Matthew 19, which explains further what the writer of Genesis meant when he wrote Genesis 2:24, which says, "This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one." In these verses, people went up to Jesus and asked if people could divorce their spouses for any reason. Jesus responded by saying, "Haven't you read the Scriptures?" He then quoted Genesis 2:24, explaining that a husband and wife become one when they make their marriage vows. Next, He added on this statement, "Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together" (Matthew 6). In other words, Jesus was explaining that marriage is a commitment.
When you think about marriage, do you treat it as a commitment you have made and make every day to your spouse? Even more, do you treat marriage as a commitment you get to make rather than a commitment you have to make? My friends, when we start viewing our marriages as commitments we get to make, the entire trajectory of our marriages will change, and God will be honored through your marriages.
For all of us, whether we are single or married, our first commitment is to Christ. Because of this, take some time to evaluate your commitment to Christ. Are you living for Him, or have other things become more important to you than Him? If you are married, sit down with your spouse and think about the vows you made to each other on your wedding day. Have you lived up to the commitment you have made to one another? What areas need improvement?
Read Matthew 19:1-6 (NLT)
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went down to the region of Judea east of the Jordan River. Large crowds followed him there, and he healed their sick.
Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’” And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
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