The Lord's Beloved Sanctuary - Marriage

"Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves..." - Malachi 2:11

Familiarity without intimacy is breeding ground for insecurity.  Are you intimate with your spouse, or are you just familiar with them?  Is your marriage a sanctuary?  Is it a place where anything can be brought at the feet of your spouse and no shame be passed from one to the other?  Is it a place where there is no record book for past offenses (1 Corinthians 13:5)?

Intimacy has seen the deepest darkest places of the heart and chooses to cherish the beautiful things, of which we all have been given by the Lord.  Most of us are very familiar with our spouse, but very few of us are intimate with them.  What offense or fault in your spouse preventing advancement in the fulfillment of the sanctuary that the Lord loves?

Shame, insecurity, and offense are abundant in many marriages.  But true intimacy without shame can only be cultivated by the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  Where these fruits are abundant fullness of life is found.  And the fruits of the Spirit cannot be grown without the Spirit.  They are not called the fruits of John Paul.  Let Him cultivate your life and His fruits will nourish your marriage, and all relationships that the Lord plants you in.

Make it your goal today to spend time in prayer for your spouse.  Pray that the Lord will lift him/her up in His grace and draw out the beauty of their heart.  Pray that He would use you to draw out the beauty in the heart of your spouse.  Then, pray with your spouse.  Come together in the Lord.  Make this a daily practice, to bring your marriage before the Throne.  If you pray for nothing else, pray for your marriage.  If you pray with no one else, pray with your spouse.