Love, on this Valentine's day it's an obviously thing to think, talk, obsess over! Which is fine... right? Love in and of itself is an amazing gift from God
But what happens when we start making this earthly love our idol? When we become consumed with romance, our significant other at the time, flowers, red heart, pink glitter and the like...
Is this what God intended when He created man and woman?
Hebrews 12:1 tells us, "to run with endurance the race that is set before us". What does this mean? We're suppose to be physically fit? Not exactly... more along the lines of running this earthly race, to where? Heaven.
Alright, alright, so we're here, on earth, working hard trying to get to Heaven. Got it.
So where does love between a man and woman come into this?
If running to Heaven is the race - let's say marathon, what would be easier:
1.) Running the marathon all by yourself
or
2.) Running the race with someone right there beside you, cheering you on, sharing in the rough uphill battles, and enjoying the sunny-downhill moments?
I don't know about you, but I'd pick #2.
This is what God created the man/woman relationship for. He knew this race wasn't going to be a light jog in the park. It'll be full of pain, agony, exhaustion-but also enjoyment, triumph and enteral victory!
He created man for woman and woman for man to be each others teammate on the race to Heaven.
-Find a workout buddy. You must find a teammate that is on your level. If you were serious about a marathon would you want to train everyday with someone who always lagged behind? NO You would constantly be using all your energy to pull them along, and not compete to your best ability.
You need someone to push you, to encourage you and to make the run enjoyable! But keep in mind that you are running with your teammate, not to your teammate - the difference? God is the prize at the end-not your teammate.
-Train smart. But what about before the marathon even starts... we need to be training, right?!
Obviously! You wouldn't just go out and try to run a marathon competitively with no prior training would you?
So we can think of dating as training... going out and running a few miles here, a few there, the longer you run (date) the more fit (closer in your relationship) you get and the more prepared you are for the race. You can start to be able to handle the runs that have rain, or wind, or maybe even snow - hardships and problems that may arise in your relationship.
-Eat Right. If you're training, you of course aren't filling your body with junk food! That would ruin your chances of winning the raceSo why do this to a relationship? (I don't mean you can't eat candy together!) I'm talking about the junk that can fill a relationship if you let it - the impure thoughts and actions that will only slow you down and make the race difficult. This could be anything from impure movies, to books, to putting yourselves in tempting situations.
-Stretch. Both before and after right? Stretching allows you to be able to withstand the new pressures being put on your body - so how can you accomplish this in a relationship? prayer.
-Gradually build up mileage. Just like you don't start the first day of training with a twenty miler, you don't need to jump into marriage, or a relationship within the first few days/weeks/whatever either. Slow and steady wins the race (liking all my running puns here?)
While I don't know where my running trail is going to lead next, or whether or not I will have a teammate by my side, I know I will always have the Eternal Prize waiting for me at the finish line and I am going do everything I can to win the race set before me. And I pray the same for each and every one of you.
God Bless!
Kristen :)
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