Growing in Grace

Whether single or married, we must live devoted to the Lord. Marriage is like a ship going out to sea. Anyone setting sail knows buffeting will come, sometimes externally and other times internally. . . When we exchange marriage vows, we vow a lifetime of mutual commitment. Nowhere else on earth is there an agreement quite like marriage vows. These vows are binding, and that is why they are so serious. . . An ideal marriage is, of all things, a love triangle. In one corner is the wife; in the other, her husband. At the apex of the triangle is God Himself. The closer our communion which is expressed in loving and abiding with God, the closer our communion with each other. Many marriages are already a triangle. God is not at the apex, however. Instead, the third party may be money. Or career(s). Or golf. Or another person. Does this mean that every marital problem has a spiritual solution? Human relationships are not quite that simplistic. It does mean, however, that if you and

Growing spiritually requires that we look to Christ for our identity. True spirituality manifests itself in certain desires. . .First is the desire to be holy rather than happy . . . The truly spiritual man knows that God will give abundance of joy after we have become able to receive it without injury to our soul, but he does not demand it at once. . . Again, a Christian is spiritual when he sees everything from God's viewpoint . The ability to weigh all things in the divine scale and place the same value upon them as God does is the mark of a Spirit-filled life. . . The desire to see others advance at his expense is another mark of the spiritual man. He wants to see other Christians above him and is happy when they are promoted and he is overlooked. . . And all of this must be by the operation of the Holy Spirit with him. No man can become spiritual by himself. Only the free Spirit can make a man spiritual. -From The Best of Tozer compiled by Warren Wiersbe; part of The