February 14th, or Valentine’s Day, dominates
the month of February. Valentine’s Day dominates February because Valentine’s
Day seems to provoke something deep within all of us. Valentine’s Day can
provoke strong responses. Some love and look forward to February 14th,
while others loath February 14th and cannot wait until the month of
February is over. But have you ever wondered why Valentine’s Day can provoke such
strong responses? What is it about Valentine’s Day that paints such a powerful
picture within us?
I believe that Valentine’s Day dominates our culture in a
way that few other days in the year can because Valentine’s Day places before
us a powerful picture of what could be. And what Valentine’s Day provokes and
places before us is the desire for love and lasting relationships. You see,
human beings are relational beings. All of humanity was created for
relationships; we were created for a relationship with God vertically and for
relationships with other horizontally.
That is why the most painful emotion is loneliness.
Loneliness is the most painful emotion because when we are lonely we are
outside of what God designed us to be. Our hearts are designed to love and be
loved. Our hearts were created to experience lasting relationships. And deep in
the core of our beings, we crave love and lasting relationships.
Yet, while our culture craves love and lasting
relationships, there is an increasing sense in our culture that love and
lasting relationships are unattainable. There is an increasing sense of
skepticism that one can truly experience loving relationships that will last a
lifetime. This is especially the case amongst those in the gen x or millennial
generation, who have looked on as their families were negatively impacted by
the increasing rates of divorce. Those who are in their 40’s or younger have
seen the devastation of the decline of healthy, lasting marriages and many have
come to the conclusion that it is better not to marry than go through the pain
and strain that comes from broken relationships.
So, are lasting relationships no longer possible? Are
love and lasting relationships attainable anymore in the fast paced, short
attention span culture that we live in today? What chance do singles have when
it comes to love and lasting relationships?
To answer these questions, we are going to spend our time
together in the month of February in a sermon series entitled love and lasting
relationships. During this series, we are going to discover what the Bible has
to say about love and lasting relationships. We are going to discover how we
can experience love and lasting relationships. We are going to discover how men
and women are to treat one another when it comes to love and lasting
relationships. We are going to discover the role that sex has in love and
lasting relationships. And we are going to discover what we need to know before
we make decisions regarding love and lasting relationships. And as we go through this series, our hope and
our prayer is that God would move in our heads, our hearts, and our hands, so
that we would be able to experience love and lasting relationships.
Now you might be thinking to yourself “What does any of
this have to do with me? I’m married, or I’m divorced; I don’t have single
people problems, I have different problems. So how is a series going to help
me?” If those questions are going through your mind, I just want to let you
know that those are fair questions to be asking. And my answer to those
questions might come as a revelation to you. For those of you who are married
and are having marriage problems, here is the thing; you do not have marriage
problems.
No one on the planet has marriage problems. You have
single people problems and now you are married. You see, the reason why you are
having marriage problems is because marriage only enhances the strengths and
weaknesses that you had when you were single. You have a problem being honest
in your marriage because you had a problem with honesty when you were single.
You have a problem being faithful in your marriage because you had a problem
with faithfulness when you were single. You are a slob in your marriage because
you were a slob when you were single. You do not have marriage problems; you
have single people problems and now you are married. And just because you are
married that doesn’t mean you should not be dating. You just are dating your
husband or your wife instead of your boyfriend or girlfriend.
So married people, this series has everything to do with
you. Divorced people, this series has everything to do with you. Regardless of
your age and stage of life, regardless of your marital status, this series is
designed to bring you to the place where you are better equipped to experience
love and lasting relationships.
Tomorrow, we will look at a powerful and prominent myth regarding
love and lasting relationships…
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