The next couple of days hold special significance for my wife and I.\u00a0 We talked briefly about it this morning before I left for the office.\u00a0 It was around this time eight years ago that my then fiancee and I were getting into our Dodge Neon (yes the same one we have now) and traveling to Sevierville, Tennessee to get our marriage license for our wedding the next day.\u00a0 I can remember the anticipation of that Thursday night.\u00a0 Even though I had worked my forty hours that week, which meant long days, that Thursday night I couldn’t sleep.\u00a0 There was so much excitement surrounding the coming days events.\u00a0 I believe if we all think real hard we can remember the excitement that I am talking about.\u00a0 In some ways it is hard to believe that we have been married for eight years and in other ways I really can’t remember a time in which she and I weren’t married.\u00a0 I can honestly say that I love Diana more today than I did the day I said “I do” in Gatlinburg, TN.\u00a0 There have been ups and downs like every couple.\u00a0 Something invariably happens over time however.\u00a0 The wedding day nervousness and excitement seems to fade over time as you settle into a routine.\u00a0 In our short married life we have been blessed with three boys, “adopted” a little girl, I have been in ministry nearly seven years, we have moved four times, and other things.\u00a0 Being a man who likes routines and generally gets flabbergasted when my routine is broken, it is natural for some excitement to wear off.\u00a0 That doesn’t mean that I don’t love Diana or that I’m not excited to be married to her.\u00a0 However, I think there is a problem with being okay with letting the excitement wear off.\u00a0 When we are no longer as excited about being married we tend to take the other one for granted.\u00a0 Sometimes we mistreat them because we think they will be there forever.\u00a0 Where we use to never criticize them or raise our voice, now we find our selves critiquing our spouse over everything and yelling to prove our point.\u00a0 Please\u00a0 understand I am aware that it is natural for some excitement to wear off, but I think we should fight to save as much of it as possible.\u00a0 One exercise I have couples do through counseling is to write down the top 10 reasons they fell in love to begin with and see how many of them have changed during the course of marriage.\u00a0 That leads many people to discover that excitement again because they haven’t changed all that much.\u00a0 For others it breaths excitement back into their marriage because they realize they are still in love and the changes have been for the better.\u00a0 I would recommend every couple who reads this blog to try it.\u00a0 But that isn’t the purpose of this blog (although I have written much more on it than I planned).<\/p>\n
The purpose of this blog today is to say that the wearing off of the excitement of marriage is a lot like the wearing off of the excitement of our salvation.\u00a0 When Jesus was talking to John in the book of Revelation and giving specific messages for specific churches there is one church by the name of Ephesus.\u00a0 We find it in Revelation 2.\u00a0 God names some good things about the church, but then comes a big word.\u00a0 That word is “nevertheless.”\u00a0 It is equivalent to our “but” in modern English.\u00a0 God says “as good as you are, I have something against you.”\u00a0 God’s charge against the Ephesian church was that they had left their first love.\u00a0 The excitement had worn off.\u00a0 They were so busy doing ministry that they forgot why they did ministry and who they were doing it for.\u00a0 Have you ever been there?\u00a0 Has church ever seemed like a chore to you at times?\u00a0 There is a high burn out rate for pastors, teachers, and volunteers.\u00a0 When we first begin it is exciting and we see it as a new challenge, but after a while it becomes a load we carry.\u00a0 I am not an expert on the topic of burn out other than to say that there have been days in which I have felt that way.\u00a0 I am not saying this is the case in your life, but I want to share what God taught me through those times of struggle in ministry.<\/p>\n
The first thing He taught me was that my focus had shifted.\u00a0 Believe it or not dear Christian it is possible to do the work of God, and not being doing a work of God.\u00a0 I was so busy keeping my job, that I wasn’t doing my job.\u00a0 What I mean is that I was going through the motions of what a pastor is suppose to do (pray, read the Bible, visit, teach, preach, etc.).\u00a0 I think we have all had days where we show up for our job simply because it was expected.\u00a0 God showed me that was a focus issue.\u00a0 Our focus in ministry must be the glory of God.\u00a0 Too many times we get caught up in the three “B’s” in ministry: buildings, bodies, and budget.\u00a0 Those three things can sap the strength out of any worker in the church.\u00a0 Another thing God showed me was about love.\u00a0 It is easy to talk about the love of God, but that leads to many times us taking God’s love for granted.\u00a0 This is where the marriage exercise came from.\u00a0 I had a trusted friend in ministry tell me to sit down and write out the top 10 reasons I serve God.\u00a0 After I was done he told me “if love is not top on that list, then your priorities are out of balance.”\u00a0 Love has to motivate everything we do.\u00a0 That is what Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 13.\u00a0 If love is our motivator then a task will mundane and will seem more like a job than something we enjoy.\u00a0 The final thing I will write about is God showed me about passion.\u00a0 Anyone who knows me knows that I am a passionate person (perhaps too passionate at times about certain things).\u00a0 I heard a Tim Tebow quote one time that spoke about passion.\u00a0 He said that anyone can have a desire or a willingness to be great, but that desire and willingness leaves you on the football field when a 300 pound defensive linemen falls on top of you.\u00a0 If you don’t have passion you won’t get up and go to the next play. I thought that was an impressive statement.\u00a0 In ministry it is about passion for the One who loved you enough to die for you.\u00a0 It is about saying “I don’t care what happens today God, I will still love you and serve you no matter what.”\u00a0 Without that passion to serve God and see others come to Christ, I fear you will leave your first love at some point.\u00a0 Go back to the day you said “I do” to Christ, remember why, and allow that passion from then to stoke your fire today!<\/p>\n
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The next couple of days hold special significance for my wife and I.\u00a0 We talked briefly about it this morning before I left for the office.\u00a0 It was around this time eight years ago that my then fiancee and I … Read More