25 Jan Four Principles that Can Transform Generations
Genesis 2:24-25 – Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
For this week’s sermon in Genesis 2, I borrowed a bit from Pastor Jimmy Evans’ Four Laws of Love which, if you’re looking for a good, practical book to help your marriage, I would highly recommend it or any of his other resources at XO Marriage. Pastor Jimmy has been an incredible encouragement and wise counsel to my wife Grace and I in our marriage and to me as a senior pastor.
In the book, Pastor Jimmy talks about 4 “Laws” of Love: The Law of Priority, The Law of Pursuit, The Law of Partnership, and the Law of Purity and I’ll briefly explain each of these in prayerful hope that it’s helpful and encouraging to you in your current or future marriage.
1. The Law of Priority
This is the idea that you leave your mom and dad and, as you head towards marriage and get married, your priority changes, which can be really difficult for some as your first priority has been a parent/child relationship for so long. It’s incredible that the book of Genesis mentions leaving your mom and dad and this clearly has to be written for us because Adam and Eve didn’t have earthly parents. Oftentimes, the problem comes when parents use money and resources in order to control their children and keep them from growing up and reaching their full potential.
2. The Law of Pursuit
This “law” is that you hold fast and you “cleave” to each other in marriage. Man and woman get married and rather than one or the other joining the other person’s family, they start their own, new family and their family of origin become their extended family. This is also the idea that the man should be the one to pursue the woman, both before and after you get married. Will it be awkward to pursue someone and get turned down until you find your spouse? Most likely. But if someone’s going to get their heart broken, it should be the man, and you should protect the woman’s heart. This pursuit also doesn’t stop in marriage, and you should pursue each other.
3. The Law of Partnership
This is the idea that man and wife are a picture of the Hebrew word echad, which means a single entity made up of multiple parts. It’s somewhat similar to a cluster of grapes that are multiple grapes but part of the same bunch. It’s where the term “one flesh” comes from. You’re still two people, but you are partners in life and are better together. The caveat is that there’s a difference between strength and independence. It’s not bad for both husband and wife to be strong, but it is bad for them to be independent of each other. You need each other and, if you say you don’t need your spouse, you call God a liar.
4. The Law of Purity
This final “law” says that God doesn’t give you a standard of beauty, He gives you a spouse. When you get married, your standard of beauty is your spouse. Married men should be a one-woman man and married women should be faithful to one man. Some may wonder if they married the right one – if you married them, they’re the right one. This also means that there’s chastity before marriage and fidelity in marriage. Oftentimes, the church teaches that sex is ugly, dirty, and gross, so you should save it for the one you love. This is not helpful. The church should be pro sex within the confines of marriage. It’s similar to a fireplace – fire is great in a fireplace but, outside the fireplace, it can be a real situation.
These may seem like small principles, but marital decisions now can have incredibly huge, generational implications for years to come. I pray that you will have a healthy, hopeful marriage and set your family up for generations of the same.
If you’re currently married, which of these four “laws” will be the most helpful to implement? If you’re not yet married, which of these can you learn more about to prepare the best you can for a healthy marriage?
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