We have the privilege of attending a marriage conference this weekend with an excellent teacher, who spent a good portion of tonight talking about marriage as God's conduit for our sanctification. I loved it, and perhaps my favorite part was the following quote from Mike Mason. I don't know who Mike Mason is, but he sure can write.
"Like God Himself, then, marriage comes with a built-in abhorrence of self-centeredness. In the dream world of mankind's complacent separateness, amidst all our pleasant little fantasies of omnipotence and blamelessness and self-sufficiency, marriage explodes like a bomb. It runs an aggravating interference pattern, an unrelenting guerilla warfare against selfishness. It attacks people's vanity and lonely pride in a way that few other things can, tirelessly exposing the necessity of giving and sharing, the absurdity of blame. Angering, humiliating, melting, chastening, purifying, it touches us where we hurt most, in the place of our lovelessness."
I agree. Tonight hit me hard, challenged me deeply. "Touches us where we hurt the most, in the place of our lovelessness." Also, I DO wonder what it was like to have a sinless marriage. That was such a great point. And when Adam & Eve learned Cain had killed Abel, what was the depth of their grief, knowing they themselves had brought this cruelty into the world? They had essentially, killed their own son? I could go on all night, so I better stop here :)
ReplyDeletewonderful quote!! so wonderful to be at a marriage retreat, how refreshing! thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat quote....is it from his book, "The Mystery of Marriage?" I remember reading that book and being blown away by it...it is such a deep thoughtful read...but I can't remember much from it, so I guess I should read it again! Thanks for the reminder!
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