No roses, though I heard from lots of married people that they didn't want roses anyway. Is it true or do they feel like they don't have enough money. I don't know. In fact, many people said they didn't do anything at all. I was shocked!! I said when I do get a Valentine we will be busy, in more ways than one. I'm also still in fantasy land about how my future husband is going to love me so much that I will get these really meaningful gifts on Valentines day. I guess I have not hit the wall of reality yet.
I heard on the radio, AM 900, a guy say that sometimes you have to let go of something that is wrong in your life in order to take hold of your promise land.
I also heard something like: The focus principle What you focus on is where you are invested. Like if you are married, you can't fall out of love, but fall out of thought. If you think about each other and are being intentional about serving your mate then you will always be in love. On the negative side if you think about something like sex or porn and are doing all you can to deny yourself it is a loosing battle if it is constantly on your mind. You have to choose to think about other things to "take every thought captive."
Another thing that stuck in my head was that sin pulls your vision down. It destroys your dreams, visions, relationships, and life. The process of temptation and sin as demonstrated first in Genesis and then through out the bible is that we see something we want, we think about it, then we take it. That could be any number of things from a fruit or sex. Notice the thinking-about-it stage.
James says that all sin comes from the depravity inside your heart. When it is allowed to come full circle it leads to death. But all along the way we can change or be redeemed.
So as a single person, having just lived through another valentines day successfully, I gotta say that the way I translate these things is to make sure I am focusing on heavenly things. If there is a relationship in your life that you have been holding onto it is an act of great courage, faith, and trust to give it to God. One guy on the radio said he was afraid that if he did lay his desire for marriage at the cross that is where it would stay. I thought it was brave of him to say that. I think many of us feel the same way. But God loves us and wants good things for us. We have to trust him and let go of things that are detrimental to our development. God can not fill the area of a mate unless that area is empty. Empty of desire or empty of some other self medicating substance.
After all we were put on earth to give glory to God. If he wants to do that through us as single people we should probably let him. On the other hand if we are avoiding responsibility or maturity, I think I'm talking to mostly guys here, we need to man up so-to-speak and not let Satan control our lives in that way. I know lots of men who for some reason or another are perfectly happy in their mothers basement. That is not the type of warriors God made. CALLING ALL MEN: THERE ARE PLENTY OF WOMEN WAITING FOR YOU. You were meant to find a godly woman, be fruitful and multiply. That means make disciples and it also means sex. God meant it, sex, to be a wonderful glue. This is why we need to be careful to protect ourselves before marriage. One soul can only be glued to one other soul in order to maintain health. If we get into a relationship and have sex then we are applying glue. When we break up we rip that person off. How many of those relationships can a person go through and still expect to be healthy enough to become a spouse, parent, or even future leader in the church?? We need to understand the ramifications of our temptations. It is not about cultural norms, it never has been. And don't think that people who are "religious" only say to avoid sex before marriage because they want to take away the fun. It's not true. There are actual studies that show how your brain is messed up by premarital sex, scientifically, and also studies that show sex inside of marriage is much more satisfying than extra-marital sex.
It matters, and it effects more than you can imagine. Your communication habits, your thought patterns, your relationship with your future kids, your relationship with your future wife, your sexual satisfaction when you finally do get married, etc. etc.
Please be careful as you SEE things and even more careful as you THINK about things and when you reach out to TAKE something . . . PLEASE make sure you are thinking about how it will effect your future valentine.
