This reality puts things in the right perspective. Long before your spouse loved you, God loved you first. Long before your spouse noticed you and set you apart from the crowd, God set you apart. Long before your spouse ever chose you, God chose you. However, it’s easy to get swept up in these feelings and memories and forget our first identity, the identity Paul reminds us of in this passage. These moments stick in our minds and are formative for our future. I also remember the night she told me she would be my wife. I remember feeling like I was in the clouds-on top of the world. I still remember the night that I realized that I loved the women who would eventually become my wife. We remember the excitement of someone being interested in us-choosing us-and the possibility of them loving us. We all remember what it feels like to fall in love. It’s out of this identity that the following commands overflow, but it’s important for us to take time to understand how this identity plays out in our marriage relationships. You are a chosen one of God, chosen before the foundations of the earth to be His. Paul says, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.” This is who you are at the core of your being. However, these commands are grounded in a powerful reality. It's easy to overlook this principle because the main focus of this passage is the four commands. One of these foundational principles lies at the very beginning of this passage. As I studied the passage and prepared the sermon, I was increasingly convinced this passage contained foundational principles for a solid, Godly marriage. I preached their wedding sermon and they had assigned me Colossians 3:12-17. In some ways I felt like a “proud papa” as I listened to them say their vows. This past summer, I participated joyfully in the wedding of two teenagers whom I discipled through their junior high and high school years. This article begins a series looking at Colossians 3:12-17 and how it applies to marriages.
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