Misplaced Values

CHARLES H. PERKINS

Misplaced Values 

So often, relationships are defined based of their circumstances good or bad. We see this throughout the Old Testament looking at the how the Israelites relate to God. Time after time God greatly blessed them and time after time they either rebelled or ran after other gods. So, the relationship between God and the Israelites was constantly broken. Why? I think it was because the people loved the blessings of God more than they loved God. They valued the relationship with the blessings of God more than they did a relationship with the person of God.

We see the same concept in marriage. Couples quite often break up over misplaced values. People often tend to judge the success of their marriage based on what they accumulate, how much money they make, how successful their careers are, how they compare to other people and so much more. So, they are doomed to a mediocre marriage or a failed marriage. If they don’t have enough “stuff” they blame each other. If they have the stuff, they spend so much time nurturing it that they forget to nurture the relationship. Like the Israelites who turned away from God in both good times and bad times, couples turn away from each other. This happens when the success of the relationship is judged by circumstances rather than by the connection between the two parties involved. In order to have a right relationship with God, you have to love Him above and beyond your circumstances whether good or bad. In order to have a right relationship in marriage, the husband and wife have to love each other above and beyond their circumstances. When the connection is right, circumstances, good or bad, do not come between you.