"To you she is beautiful, but to me there is only my wife and my son"
Vito Corleone : from The Godfather II
Song of Songs 1:1-7
"In the first sermon of the series, Pastor Mark Driscoll gives an introduction detailing the sexual sin that saturates our culture. Sex can be viewed as either a god, as gross, or a gift. The Bible teaches us that sex is a gift that is to be stewarded wisely." Summary taken from the Mars Hill website.
In this first sermon, Mark covered a lot of ground. From summarizing the cultural attitude toward sex from O.T. to N.T. and on into our day, to drawing in your spouse through love and communication. However, what came across to us the clearest was the concept of having your spouse as your standard of beauty.
-As the feminine mind, I have difficulty knowing that my husband finds me gorgeous. I've never really been the jealous type but when I know that he thinks I'm the most beautiful woman in his life, I feel safe. I don't need to compare or compete. We were watching "Godfather" the other night and what Vito said really stood out to me. I'm his and I know he only thinks of me. It's important, I think, to not let that make us lazy though. That we still keep our own standard high and keep pursuing what my husband finds attractive. Sexy is defined by him!
-For me as a husband, having Julie as my standard is very empowering and defining. In my younger years when I struggled with pornography, looking back I can see how that tainted how I measured beauty. It wasn't an overt standard it would just kind of creep in to my mind when guys at work would say things like, "Do you think so and so is more beautiful than so and so?". Now, for me no one is more beautiful than Julie. When we both understand that, it gives me a lot more security in our marriage by giving clear boundaries to what attractive is. No third party allowed.
What we have here (for most couples) is a failure to communicate.
Our prayer is that this would be a time of encouragement and communication for you all.
God Bless,
Eric and Julie
Peasant Princess Week One
