TOTAL COMMITMENT
- Key Verse
- "But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband." (1 Corinthians 7:2)
READ TODAY'S PASSAGE-
READ THE CHAPTER
Central Truth
The roles and boundaries of sex within the marriage bond are defined.
Reflections
I am a “child of the ‘60’s." This era began when sex was taboo as a family discussion topic and ended with the “sexual revolution.” It was a time that seemed to parallel the period of rampant sexual immorality in Corinth that Paul references in this passage. I remember feeling bewildered by the changes happening in some of my core values. These cultural extremes allowed my generation to define a wide range of acceptable boundaries for sexual behavior. Based on these experiences, many couples who married did so with less than a total commitment to each other.
As one who has always been fascinated with numbers, a total commitment is computed by each person giving 100% to the marriage, resulting in something greater than the sum of the components. In other words, 100% plus 100% equals one to a higher power! The higher power represents a marriage based on Christian principles. My wife and I married with this level of commitment as our goal.
Our spiritual journey together over the past 39 years has revealed a valuable spiritual truth. When either of us gives less than 100%, a gap in our relationship will surface. These gaps, if ignored, will be filled by the world in a way that could fracture the marital bond. Paul warns us in verse five, "Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." (1 Corinthians 7:5).
I am experiencing the 60's decade again, except this time as a baby-boomer who is sixty-three. Age has a way of maturing us. So now each new day begins with a personal re-commitment to our marriage. I ask God to guide my daily conduct in ways that will safeguard our marriage and relationship with Him.
Discussion Questions
- How do you define a total commitment in your marriage?
- Have you helped family members or friends who have experienced infidelity in their marriage?
- How might some of the immoralities that Paul witnessed apply to our cultural environment today?
Ray Wall
May 3, 2010 07:08 AM
Doug, Thanks for the wise words and more importantly, the role model that you are.
Denise
May 3, 2010 08:44 AM
Thanks, Doug for this great advice on marriage. I love you and Penny and your testimony of God's faithfulness to you in marriage. Denise
Shirley O'Connor
May 3, 2010 09:06 AM
Well done, Doug! Thanks!
Susan Miner
May 3, 2010 09:40 AM
Well, Doug you answered the question I have often asked. How do people stay married for 39+ years. Each one gives 100 percent. Duh. How simple is that. Plus our committment to God first. Thanks, you did a good job on this passage.
Lynn Carpenter
May 3, 2010 03:51 PM
Doug, Well written and well lived!
John and Marian
May 3, 2010 09:50 PM
Doug: Wow! You wrote a thought provoking and meaningful devotion. Your thoughts were a blessing and challenge. I love you my dear brother. Warmheartedly in Christ, John and Marian
Kelly Spencer
May 4, 2010 09:15 AM
Doug, that was really good and I enjoyed a perspective of someone a "smidge" older than I. (and I really meant "smidge"!) I was in elementary school in the mid to late 60's and so I dont remember what it was like before that but I feel like it has come back around full force! Thank you for your simple straight up view on that passage. I like things "simple". ;o)