Seventeen years ago I was anxiously running through the mall looking for the “perfect” birthday gift to show my big crush how much I liked him. After hours of searching, I settled on the Robbie Williams CD Swing When You’re Winning, which is still one of my all-time favourites today. (If you’ve never used a CD as a sign of affection, you don’t know romance.) The gift must have been the right one because, all these years later, I am honoured to call this crush my husband. This week it is my honour and privilege to celebrate this wonderful man God has blessed me with and to salute God’s marvellous work in his life in the last few years.
One of my favourite passages that explains the husband God is shaping in our marriage is 1 Timothy 6:11-12:
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12
O Man of God
Not every “Man of God” will have public authority like Timothy and others who were similarly exalted in the Old Testament like Elijah (1 Samuel 9:6) and Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1). Most men, like Carl, are messengers of God in their own homes, families, and church communities, living out the gospel as instructed in Scripture to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesian 5:25), and living with her in an understanding way, showing her honour as a fellow heir in Christ (1 Peter 3:7).
My Man of God is a disciple in our home, teaching, preaching and ministering to my heart. He points me to Jesus in my desperate disappointments and my misled moments. I am eternally grateful that God used Carl to help me question what is not from Him, and find the truth of His Word.
Flee these Things
Our physical address hasn’t changed and we didn’t pack a bag, but we did flee nonetheless. We ran from what Paul warns about in the previous passage as “a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3). Together we have “renounced ungodliness” and we are striving “to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives” (Titus 2:15).
At times I wondered how our marriage would survive the hardest trek we would ever undertake, especially before I could reconcile myself with refugee status. But looking back I see our Father’s hand in every decision at every cross-road he brought us to. In all these small and giant moments God was shaping my Man of God. And he is still working in him to be “complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17).
There is no point in running from something if you’re not sure if what you’re running towards is better, thus Paul instructs Timothy to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11b). I am under no illusion that my Prince is perfect, but I have seen the Holy Spirit cultivate these virtues in his heart and flow into every area of his life in the last few months. I am in awe, and grateful to be a witness to this work of sanctification.
Fight the Good Fight of Faith
John Piper wrote that the fight of faith implies that believing does not come naturally to the sinful man. Following Christ goes against our fallen nature and our self-focused culture. Contrary to many false teachings Jesus knew following him would cost us more than we would be willing to give up when he said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.“ (Luke 9:23). Piper further explains “If we declare our love for Jesus, God tells us, suffering will expose and refine us (1 Peter 4:12), people will despise, slander, and disown us (John 15:18), Satan and his demons will assault us (John 10:10), and our own sin will seek to ruin us from within (1 Peter 2:11). If we refuse to fight, we won’t last. The ships of our souls will inevitably drift, and then crash, take on water, and sink.”
By the grace of God Carl has been able to fight the good fight of faith. I marvel at how the Lord uses his curious, investigative nature to draw both of us to Him. Without this thirst for the truth, we would have easily been swayed or lost courage. But this man of mine does not shrink from the truth, even in adversity and difficult situations.
I’ve seen Carl fight. The hardest battles are invisible, raging internal turmoil to overcome what is not of God and accept his good and perfect teaching. But other battles are raging around us – in our culture, families and communities – that require men of faith to pick up the sword of truth and fight. A war is raging to bend the truth and make acceptable and normal what God deems detestable. God requires men of God to lead His women and children into battle, to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). My man of God is a gentle soul, never picking a fight or seeking conflict, but he is fighting for eternal life.
Take Hold of the Eternal Life to which You were Called
A man of God cannot be a complacent observer. He cannot sit back in his comfort zone and wait for someone else to win the war on his behalf. A man of God knows that his greatest treasure is Christ in heaven, so he arranges his whole life to take hold of this treasure.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Matthew 13:44
One of the most beautiful truths the Lord has shown us through his word is that Christ has already earned our inheritance for us on the cross, and given us the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of this inheritance ((Ephesians 1:13–14). The work is finished. Yet, we have not taken hold of it yet, and thus must persevere in the faith to “take hold” of this promise. This wonderful assurance is that God will enable us to persevere – he never leaves us to rely on our own strength. He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).
In our home, we know our “citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). This is what we stand for, live for and look forward to. Once again I can thank Piper’s eloquence to demonstrate we “wake up on another normal Wednesday, and seize the grace that God has laid before [us].” When I forget where we are headed, my man of God is quick to point me in the right direction, heavenward.
I thank God daily for giving me this man. He is not the man I bought that first CD for or the man I married. And that is all thanks to God’s unfathomable grace.
Happy birthday, Prince Charlie. I am proud to call you my Man from God.
I dedicate one of Carl’s favourite songs to him here. You are my hero of the faith.
