Quotable: Marriage and the Will

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This one on marriage comes from a book I'm reading, "I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah" by the great Ravi Zacharias. I'm learning its truth first-hand right now as I prepare to enter my own marriage.

"How do you harness the will? First by recognizing that dying to yourself is an act of the will. You must choose to lay down your life in the best sense of the term. You surrender your will to the will of God by an act of commitment and in the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God. That is the indispensable beginning. No one likes to begin life with a funeral. But in a sense, that is where marriage begins. You choose to die to yourself and to bring to life a new affection."

I am not the man I was when Megan and I started dating. A lot has changed in me. A lot of pride has been crucified. I have willed to lay down my life in many areas and there are many more that have still to die. And they must die. I'm sure Megan has had to lay down a lot of things, too.

You know, our marriage on August 1st may be the death of our former lives, but it is also the birth of a new life. A new affection. And it's going to take the continual laying down of both of our lives to make it a great affection.

Our Master said, "Greater love has no man (or woman) than this, that he lays down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

Learning to give up one's life is yet another key to Growing Young.

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