Today’s blog will “shoot straight” and “cut to the chase” as I ask you point blank: “What or Who in your life are you going through the motions with- continuing in and tolerating with only because you deemed it or them “good for business?” The motives that guide our choices and decisions have long lasting consequences so I pray today that we will begin to remove selfish ambition and allow God through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us to choose wisely.
Focusing in on “who”, I rhetorically ask, “Did you choose her because she looks good to the camera?”. “Did you choose him because he makes good money?” or “Will I choose them because they’ll be good for my image in this position or they know how to play the role in their position as my mate?”. There is no sustenance to these self-serving rationales when decision-making. Furthermore, the lasting results are catastrophic at best.
As an African American woman, I am beginning to believe that we as a people believe that suffering is just our way of life. We continue to stay in things with a warped mindset that God desires it be that way. Looking over my 11 1/2 years of marriage, I saw decay after decay. The harsh reality was that while God allowed us to make the decision to marry, He(God) was never in it from the beginning. If we are honest with ourselves, we married out of our own selfish ambition. “His”(ex) choice was aided by the prompting of friends that “I was a good girl with a good job” and my choice was prompted by the fact that “my clock was ticking” and “something was better than nothing.” The Holy Spirit was not a part of that and as such our vows were made before man with all the rhetoric and no life sustenance. The catastrophic end was insurmountable temptations, increased hard heartedness toward one another and an inability to build on such a groundless foundation.
The world has led us to believe that marriage is the one covenant you don’t break even if it kills you. Many have convinced themselves to suffer through it for “Christ’s sake.” Many have had numerous affairs outside the bounds of their marriages but continue to keep the façade reasoning that it is “good for business” which may include “ministry”. If a Christ-centered marriage brings glory to God and your marriage does not, what kind of witness is that? I am in total agreement that if two parties agree to “work together and to start or continue with Christ as its foundation”, then there is hope for a long lasting marriage that God can be pleased with and glorified in.” However, to stay “legally bound” and allow all sorts of corruption and chaos is purely insane to reconcile within yourself that God is “glad you stayed” in this manner.
If it is a “business decision” to stay because you feel your image will be tainted or the “empire” you have built will come down, rest assure that if you are living a life of sin under the guise of marriage, your empire is headed for destruction any way.
The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:22-23). You will be judged for what is done in the body (2 Cor 5:9-10). Need I say more?
When you are operating in the will of God, holy living not bible words or pretentious appearances is the result. Quit playing with God and fooling yourself. What you’ve convinced yourself and others to be “good for business” will soon run you “out of business” and furthermore “bankrupt.”