Inflamed with Passion? Pursue Godly Marriage

Yesterday, I preached from 1 Corinthians 7 that God says that if we are inflamed with passion “that we should pursue Godly marriage.” I want to be clear about that pursuit. I hinted at it in the sermon, but never came right out and said it. We should not pursue Godly marriage by counting on dating websites, singles ministries, or definitely while HOWS (hanging out with sinners), or other worldly wisdom avenues. We pursue Godly marriage by devoting all of our time to PURSUING GOD. Singles, inflamed with passion, easily step into idolatry (the idea of being married) and make sinful mistakes in this pursuit. Once again, it boils down to the ultimate questions in life, “Is Jesus sufficient?” and “Do I trust Him, that if I spend time with Him - getting close to Him, that a Godly spouse will show up on the horizon.” My experience in watching people walking closely with God is that as they discover His glory, His majesty, His power, they discover that the passion (the urges, the hormones) did not own them quite as much as they thought it did. To pursue Godly marriage, first and foremost, PURSUE GOD -- LOVE AND SERVE GOD. Flee from sin, flee from sexual immorality, go to war with worldly wisdom, and pursue Him with time, service, prayer, fellowship, resources, EVERYTHING. Trust in Him; watch Him work in your life.

Note: I am not against singles ministries. My observation is that many times they are filled with people in idolatrous pursuit of companionship over Jesus. That is unhealthy. There are many healthy singles ministries and many healthy Christians that attend them.