I, Isaac, take Thee, Rebekah by Ravi Zacharias
This was a sweet, honest, convicting, and thought provoking book about marriage. In this season of my life it has given me much insight. Below, you’ll find some important things I took from this book and if you don’t plan to read this book soon then enjoy some quotes because it might just change your mind. It’s hard to not just quote this whole book! haha
1. Parental blessing is vital.
“While not a guarantee, parental counsel and blessing is nevertheless the way of wisdom and must be seriously considered.”
“The chances are that if you marry somebody in violation of your parents’ will, you are playing a high-stakes game as you enter the future. Any time you violate an authority that has been put in place by God, you need to be twice as sure you are doing the right thing.”
2. Have the will to love.
“Love is as much a question of the will as it is of the emotion. And if you will to love somebody, you can.”
“Without the will, marriage is a mockery; without emotion, it is a drudgery. You need both.”
“You must choose to lay down your life in the best sense of the term. You surrender your will to the will of God but 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.”
3. Serve one another with kindness. (A really convicting and refreshing chapter for me.)
“There may be reasons to disagree. There may be reasons to struggle. After all, two wills are merging into one. There are constant compromises and surrenders demanded, but there is never a reason to be unkind, particularly when you are tampering with the very fragile nature of a person’s sensitivities.”
“Kindness is the touch, the look, the beat of the heart, and the act that seeks to cherish and guard the one to whom you say, ‘I love you.’“
4. Remain Pure
“Romans 13:14, ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.’ In other words, do not put yourself in a place where you can fall.”
“The Lord reminds us that as physical as the sexual act is, the marriage bed remains undefiled because His presence sanctifies the act. That is the privilege of a man and woman coming together in consummating the physicality of love, representing the spiritual bond between the two.”
5. Prepare yourself.
“Ask yourself if you truly have the maturity to sacrifice your selfishness for the responsibility that lies ahead.”
“He is the bridegroom coming for the Bride, and He will come when the Bride is ready for Him. If marriage is as grand as the Bible intended it to be, then it is worth it to wait until you are ready for that right moment … for the right one.”
6. Be prayerful.
“It is a self-evident truth that a person who truly prays and seeks God’s wisdom in life recognizes the sovereignty of God and is committed to seeking God’s wisdom in life’s important choices. It is important to understand that it is a prayer life that builds character that honors God, not one that brandishes its spirituality or seeks to use prayer as a credential or a badge of honor.”
“A genuine prayer life is one that is constantly broken before God. Such a person’s life demonstrates the humility that is born out of brokenness.”
“Prayer is not a substitute for action, but prayer undergirds action with the strength that makes the difference.”
7. Face reality and each other.
“Marriage brings face to face two people committed to God whose face is distinctively revealed in each as they see each other in the light of God shining on each other in the light of God, shining on each countenance. God brought them close to each other because each was the other’s answer from God, to rescue them from being alone.”
“Marriages that are Christ-centered are beautiful to behold and wonderful to enjoy. Romance as God intended it can last a lifetime.”
Finally, a special thanks to my senior pastor for letting me borrow his book for free. haha
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