Single Titus 2 Sisters- Pt 2. Where are your idols?

Family, Single Titus 2 Womanhood / Saturday, February 18th, 2012
Today Chelsea from 365 Devotions for Unmarried Christian Women is finishing up her beautiful testimony of how the Lord has met her in her singleness.  If you missed part one, head over to her first post “Single Titus 2 Sisters-Stinkin’ Thinkin'”   Today she continues to share about her life lessons from:
Yesterday…

“But he said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power
of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with
weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am
weak, then I am strong.” ~2 Corinthians
12:9-10 ESV

Yesterday (my past),
is where much of my weakness lies and much forgiveness has been bestowed upon
me by the Lord.

All testimonies are unique, mine is no exception.  It is only God who has the power to change a
sinner; to make us strong when we are weak, no matter how unique the circumstance is, He can awaken our heart to True Love through Jesus.
I have such a compassionate heart for unmarried women.  The obvious reason is because I am an
unmarried woman!
However the more serious, unobvious reason is because I have the unique experience of having
been engaged to a man.
The engagement ended soon after it began.  We were both saddened by it, however despite our feelings, we knew the Lord was showing us we were not ready to be married. I have to go back a little further to explain more.
I have been in multiple relationships. Mostly before I was saved in January of 2008, however also two as a believer.
It was not until my last relationship (the engagement) that I fully understood or would even consider a courtship.
I praise God that He opened my eyes to understand what courtship means.  However, even with the ideas of courtship explained to me by my church, it was very difficult to uphold to that model in my life.
The sinful pull of wanting to do things my own way, as in past relationships, was continuously present.  Plan and simple, I desired the affection of men and that was difficult while upholding to the rules of courtship, so my solution: change the rules when they were inconvenient to follow.
I knew in my mind it was right to be cautious, but my desires were tainted with the
sin of my past and the idolization of men, so my heart did not fully comprehend
what I spiritually knew was right.

To see it so clearly
now is a relief of the bondage I’ve had of idolizing men’s affection over Jesus’
affection.
It’s a wicked circle, whether a relationship is being held accountable by others or not.
If any
man becomes an idol in our lives and his name isn’t Jesus Christ we are in
grave danger to fall into many different types of sin.

By God’s grace I am where I am today.  I look back trusting God’s sovereign plan for
me and praise Him for an opportunity to have time with Him and Him alone!

I have spent too long idolizing a made up kind of love in my mind, thinking I would be fulfilled by the acknowledgment of a man.


Ladies, I cannot stress enough how important it is to understand our idols.
Whether it be a person or an object or a thought…please, pray to God and ask Him
to help you drop your idols at the foot of the cross, better yet, bury them there
and focus completely on Jesus, only then will you see everything else clearly.


Tomorrow…

There are many thoughts I could share about what the future
may hold; guidance I could suggest to other unmarried Christian women; except I
am not God.
So, will I personally prepare for the future by understanding what biblical womanhood means…yes.
Predict the future…no ma’am.
Instead, I’d like to put it in God’s own
words.

Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

Proverbs 21:1


31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Matthew 6:31-34

 

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 & 7

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5 & 6

Amen.

I have one more important message to all unmarried Christian
women who desire to be married and at some point may transition into a relationship…
I was taught this as a new believer who desired (and still
desires) to be a wife some day ~ If the Lord is leading you to consider a
courtship or marriage please remember this wisdom:
“Do not be unequally
yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with
lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” ~2 Corinthians
6:14 ESV

 


This does not guarantee a perfect relationship (my courtship is an example), however if a man you are interested in is not a Christian, one who has the desire to be the spiritual leader that men are called to be, this will lead to many hardships in your marriage.

Be patient and wait on the Lord.  Remember you already have the Greatest Love of All, He is enough to meet all your needs, whether a man comes into your live or not.  It is not worth the compromise, don’t sacrifice what’s truly important, Jesus Christ, just to get married.

Thank you for reading this post ladies, I am so blessed by
the opportunity to share what the Lord has shown me about this time of
singleness.  Also, I’d like to thank Jenny ~ God has given you a special desire to encourage single women and I am very appreciative of that.
Have a beautiful day!
~Chelsea

Chelsea is a single woman with a heart for the Lord and desire to encourage others. You can visit her at her blog 365 Devotions for Unmarried Women..  Did you miss part one of our Single Titus 2 Sisters?  Make sure to check out them all!
Stay tuned Monday for a great giveaway and then more rich wisdom the rest of the week from more Titus 2 single sisters!
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