The Greatest Spiritual Growth Tip…Ever
Twenty five years ago this week, my wife Cathy and I were married and spent our first night together at the Hotel Dupont, a 5-star hotel in Wilmington, Delaware. So this week on our anniversary I am taking her back to the Hotel Dupont Green Room for dinner.
She does not know yet because this will post the next morning. All she knows is I am picking her up from work at 5:30 pm today and she has to dress nice! To start things off I stopped by her work today with two dozen roses! I should have bought one more and made it 25 for our anniversary, but thought of it too late.
As I reflect on my spiritual growth over 25 years of marriage, I am reminded of what just might be the greatest spiritual growth tip ever: Marry a follower of Jesus.
Not complicated…not rocket science…maybe not even very profound…but in my experience, many followers of Jesus don’t follow this simple advice.
When Cathy and I were married, we were young, but we were both followers of Jesus. Now we are old…er…I’m old…and still following Jesus.
Over 25 years of marriage, Cathy has been the single most powerful influence on my spiritual growth. She has encouraged me when I needed encouragement and challenged me when I needed challenging. I simply would not…could not…have experienced the spiritual growth I have over the last 25 years without her by my side as a follower of Jesus.
In 2 Corinthians 6:14-15, the Apostle Paul is writing to followers of Jesus about marriage. He says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers….what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?”
Certainly, these are unpopular verses today. The issue here is not conformity to rules and regulations, but rather the spiritual wellbeing of the believer. From the perspective of spiritual growth, it is simply much easier to grow spiritually when a follower of Jesus is married to another follower of Jesus. I know.
Can a person grow spiritually married to someone who is not a follower of Jesus? Sure…but it is way more difficult.
So pass this on to a follower of Jesus not yet married…the greatest spiritual growth tip ever from a pastor celebrating his 25th anniversary:
“Marry a follower of Jesus.”
