Let God be your husband or your wife?

[Howard Cneal]

[...]

 

[scraparcs]

I think God sucks at cuddling and He never gives me diamonds.

 

[Im_A]

Ever hear that line before...? I have.

What do you all think about that?

Sound advice, or just plain kooky-ness?

I stumbled upon this article which addresses that and the so-called 'gift' of singleness. (Which is not to say there aren't people called and chosen for a special vocation where God anoints them with a special grace to not desire a mate, because there are people like that.)

Gillis Triplett - Is It The Will of God For Me To Marry Or Remain Single?

I personally think it's an interesting article and makes a lot of sense.

Kooky-ness.

Number one:
Looking at a figure in a book to be your husband is strange. Men looking at God as a wife is not a sign of being heterosexual, since for Christian doctrine, God is a 'male' figure in the scriptures.

Since wife and husband are terms that entail other 'things', it is even more strange to hear it. Want to God to bear your kids or be your 'lover'? Yea...that's a bit sick.

Good thing the majority of Christians don't talk like this. Normally it is only the Christians who can't handle being single and alone that say nonsense like this.

 

[Fremdin]

I honestly believe that some people are called to dedicate their lives to God and God becomes like a spouse to them, in as much as God is their great love and God is to whom their heart belongs. I am fairly liberal and non-traditional but I believe that people can be "married" to God.

 

[He.Loves.You]

I think that involves idolatry, honestly ... trying to represent God as something He is not. God isn't my gardener, chef, or wife...
There was a reason he introduced marriage...

 

[Edwards1984]

Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband...Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. [1 Corinthians 7:1-2, 7-9; NASB]
​

Celibacy is simply meant as a gift for those who are able to do it and choose to willingly. If they are unable to, it is better to have a wife. Paul himself was single, but many of the other apostles were not (Paul mentions this fact briefly in 1 Corinthians 9). As such, there's no such thing as "having God as a husband" (like you hear with nuns), let alone "having God as a wife" (which is just blasphemous). These were all later additions stemming from monastic/ascetic practices. Celibacy is just celibacy to focus on studying the word of God and not have the distractions of married life (1 Cor 7:32-33).

 

[peacechild4]

There is no man on earth who could be there for me to talk too like GOD or put up with me at every high and low.. but the romance.. onwards.. etc.. GOD doesn't do that bit.. and I have to grimace sometimes about the things people write about HIM in that sense.. HE is everything to me though and I am glad in my singleness I have GOD to help me through..

 

[Apollo Celestio]

Kooky-ness.

Number one:
Looking at a figure in a book to be your husband is strange. Men looking at God as a wife is not a sign of being heterosexual, since for Christian doctrine, God is a 'male' figure in the scriptures.

Since wife and husband are terms that entail other 'things', it is even more strange to hear it. Want to God to bear your kids or be your 'lover'? Yea...that's a bit sick.

Good thing the majority of Christians don't talk like this. Normally it is only the Christians who can't handle being single and alone that say nonsense like this.

Eh, I think those labels are given so we can better understand the theology. Kind of like the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God made us male and female, after his image.

That said, God only needs to be your God..nothing more..

 

[Howard Cneal]

I gotta say... I love God. I truly do. I'd do just about anything for Him...

But I don't love Him THAT way.

the sad thing is, I know many Christians personally who will read things like the Song of Solomon and take it to mean that they should desire Jesus as a spouse. I've heard teachings like these... and even heard my former pastor's wife say "God created you with a desire for intimacy. But it's not to be used in dating relationships or with the opposite sex. He gave you that desire for Himself."

I was like, "What...?" lol

Needless to say, I don't go to that fellowship anymore.

 

[Sketcher]

It's weird, to put it mildly. It's not as though God was Adam's wife before he made Eve.

 

[K9_Trainer]

Yeah sounds like kooky-ness to me

 

[TanteBelle]

Kooky-ness.

Number one:
Looking at a figure in a book to be your husband is strange. Men looking at God as a wife is not a sign of being heterosexual, since for Christian doctrine, God is a 'male' figure in the scriptures.

Since wife and husband are terms that entail other 'things', it is even more strange to hear it. Want to God to bear your kids or be your 'lover'? Yea...that's a bit sick.

Good thing the majority of Christians don't talk like this. Normally it is only the Christians who can't handle being single and alone that say nonsense like this.

From a spiritual side, we being the bride/church, I can understand that, but to that extent that folks take it (I know an elderly nun and yes, she wears a wedding ring coz she's 'married to Christ'!) I find it blasphemous and just plain sickening!

But yes, agree with this post!

I gotta say... I love God. I truly do. I'd do just about anything for Him...

But I don't love Him THAT way.

the sad thing is, I know many Christians personally who will read things like the Song of Solomon and take it to mean that they should desire Jesus as a spouse. I've heard teachings like these... and even heard my former pastor's wife say "God created you with a desire for intimacy. But it's not to be used in dating relationships or with the opposite sex. He gave you that desire for Himself."

I was like, "What...?" lol

Needless to say, I don't go to that fellowship anymore.

Oh no!!! Not the twisted Christian view on the Songs of Solomon!!! Egh!

 

[Howard Cneal]

Yeah, I think they still do actually. It was a teaching from Mike Bickle (International House of Prayer) about how we're supposed to let Jesus kiss us on the lips (SoS) or something. Frankly, I thought it was weird and spooky...

I think a lot of the girls liked it though. Most of them are forbidden from dating and are very impressionable. So they probably all see themselves as brides of Christ or something, I don't know... :/

 

[TanteBelle]

Yeah, I think they still do actually. It was a teaching from Mike Bickle (International House of Prayer) about how we're supposed to let Jesus kiss us on the lips (SoS) or something. Frankly, I thought it was weird and spooky...

I think a lot of the girls liked it though. Most of them are forbidden from dating and are very impressionable. So they probably all see themselves as brides of Christ or something, I don't know... :/

Arrrrrrgh! *bangs head on desk* Without causing folks to turn red in the face, but how far does one want to take SoS literally in regards to God!!!??? Oi, now!!!

Oh mate, that is just ...... I'm speachless!!! Egh!! Hey, I don't date, but I'm not that desperate!!!!

 

[kevlite2020]

God is our God. It's that simple. If we try to put Him in the role of our husband or wife or whatever, it limits Him and "changes" who He is to fit what we want. I put changes in quotes because God obviously doesn't change, just our perception of Him.

Personally, I love that God loves us the way He does, and I love that He uses marriage to describe His love for us. And I also have respect for those who have dedicated their lives to God by staying single so they can focus on Him. But claiming God as a personal spouse isn't right, it isn't healthy, and it isn't a fair or accurate view of who God is and what He wants for us.

 

[crishmael]

From the number of "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs the Contemporary Christian industry churns out, you'd think there was a part of the creed devoted to it.

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

God is our God. It's that simple. If we try to put Him in the role of our husband or wife or whatever, it limits Him and "changes" who He is to fit what we want. I put changes in quotes because God obviously doesn't change, just our perception of Him.

Personally, I love that God loves us the way He does, and I love that He uses marriage to describe His love for us. And I also have respect for those who have dedicated their lives to God by staying single so they can focus on Him. But claiming God as a personal spouse isn't right, it isn't healthy, and it isn't a fair or accurate view of who God is and what He wants for us.

This!

 

[MacFall]

It's weird, to put it mildly. It's not as though God was Adam's wife before he made Eve.

The sentence "It is not good for man to be alone" rather proves it.

 

[Thunder Peel]

God is our God. It's that simple. If we try to put Him in the role of our husband or wife or whatever, it limits Him and "changes" who He is to fit what we want. I put changes in quotes because God obviously doesn't change, just our perception of Him.

Personally, I love that God loves us the way He does, and I love that He uses marriage to describe His love for us. And I also have respect for those who have dedicated their lives to God by staying single so they can focus on Him. But claiming God as a personal spouse isn't right, it isn't healthy, and it isn't a fair or accurate view of who God is and what He wants for us.

Bingo.

 

[Marycita]

my two-cents on this whole Jesus is my boyfriend/husband thing...

Turn on the radio, and you'll hear someone asking "How can I live or breathe without you?" or declaring "I need you" and similar things. Watch a romance movie and you see couples declaring that they found that one person who makes everything make sense. Without this person nothing would matter -life wouldn't be worth living. It seems that romantic love is the end all be all. Couples look for someone to complete them, to give them a hope, a purpose, a reason. Everyone is trying to find someone to be their everything.

But the problem is that people were never meant to have that role..and we've tried to force them into it. That's the way it has become in this society...

God was meant to have that role. He is the One to give us a reason, a hope, a future, a meaning. He was meant to be our everything.

I reckon the reason there's the lingo of Jesus as a boyfriend or husband (more so than the church being the bride) is because what it seems most people today are looking for in a spouse is what we are meant to seek in God.

That's the problem. It's not that songs about God sound like romantic love songs. It's that romantic love songs sound like songs about God. It's not that we are trying to make Jesus our boyfriend. It's that we are trying to make our boyfriends (girlfriends, wives, husbands,etc) our Jesus.