The Key to Growing in your Marriage
In week 2 of Watermark's #inTIMEacy series, Director of Young Adults, Jonathan (JP) Pokluda, taught about the fact that we sit on an "oil field of riches" in God’s Word and that most of us take it for granted. We own several copies of the Bible (different translations and covers and on our mobile devices), yet we don’t read it and many of us are spiritually impoverished and destitute. The challenge of this message is to get into God’s Word, read it and let it transform and instruct our lives. Because we cannot grow as a follower of Christ apart from His Word, reading the Bible takes TIME to take root in our hearts and lives. (Click here to read my first post in this series) JP taught primarily from 2 Timothy 3:14-17 and shared the following:
Read your Bible with a plan (including when and where), a text (don't just randomly choose a passage) and a commitment (How often? Who's going to hold you accountable?)
When you read, ask:
What do I see?
What does it mean?
What should I do?
The message of God’s Word, cover to cover, across 66 books, is that God loves us and He came to rescue us through Christ.
JP did a great job in this message - click here to watch or listen to Part 2 of the #inTIMEacy series.
For the Married: Kristen and I both spend time in the Word, almost on a daily basis. We both read through the Journey (please check out Join the Journey if you don't know what I'm talking about), and typically we are each doing a separate study on our own or with a class/small group. For instance, right now I am studying the book of Judges while Kristen is studying Genesis with Watermark's Wednesday morning women's study.
In full honesty, this is an area where I fall short in the way I lead my wife. Individually we both read God’s Word and are actively engaged in studying His Word. However, we we fall short in making the time to share with each other the things we are learning from His Word. By not sharing we miss out on one of God's provisions for us to grow in our marriage and in authenticity and transparency with each other. How are you doing in sharing what you're learning from the Bible with your spouse? Are you in the Word? If not, check out the Join the Journey. If you are, make it a daily habit of sharing at least one thing you learned in God's Word, starting today.
For the Premarried: The premarried stage of your relationship provides an ideal opportunity for you to evaluate the spiritual maturity of your significant other and his/her desire to grow spiritually. While you don't have to study something together, this stage of your relationship allows you to see if your significant other makes TIME with the Lord through His Word a priority. Read Psalm 1:2-3. Does he delight in the law of the Lord? Does she meditate on God's Word day and night? A few suggestions for the premarried:
Read the Journey together or on your own and share what you're learning with each other.
Read the Proverb of the day - there are 31 Proverbs in the book of Proverbs. On the 9th day of the month, read Proverbs 9, 1st day of the month, read Proverbs 1.
If the wedding date is set and is within 150 days, do a countdown in the book of Psalms so that you read Psalm 1 the day of your wedding.
Whatever you do, make sure that you spend time in the Word. It is through God's Word that true life transformation and sanctification takes place!