Moon 1

Jessa Moon
Cosmin Ritivoiu
English 2
27 January 2015
Keeping God at the Center of Your Relationship
Idolatry, at times, is thought of as being an issue of the past rather than the present, a
physical issue rather than a heart issue. Idolatry is when a person puts anythingmoney,
appearances, a dream, a relationshipabove their love and devotion to God. This can happen at
times between Christian couples; rather than focusing on God, they focus on each other. Ellen
White writes in the book Letters to Young Lovers, The heart yearns for human love, but this
love is not strong enough or pure enough, or precious enough to supply the place of the love of
Jesus (White 79). When two young Christians are in a relationship they should put much effort
into remembering they should have no other gods before the Lord. They must never forget their
first love, which is Jesus Christ.
In both the Old and the New Testaments, God states that each Christian should not have
any other gods before Him. In Exodus 20:3, The First of the Ten Commandments says, You
shall have no other Gods before Me. Then, in Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus says, You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first
and greatest commandment. In both these verses the message is the same: God should have the
first place in every Christians life.
Some Christians are satisfied and think they have done their job well when they write out
their list of priorities and place God as first, their spouse second, and then perhaps their children
or their career. God desires not to just have one space at the top of the priority list, but He desires

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to be at the center of their lives. He should be at the center of their marriages, at the center of
their family life, and at the center of their careers. Jesus should never lose this place even when it
comes to relationships.
Leslie Ludy, founder of the ministry Setapartgirl, and author of the bestselling book,
When God Writes Your Love Story, writes about how many young people todayeven
Christians focus on the person they are in a relationship with and begin to ignore their
relationship with God. This might at times be something people do subconsciously. They think
they are keeping God at the center of their relationship, by going to church or reading their Bible,
however, their focus is still on each other. Leslie Ludy, in a magazine article entitled Building a
God Written Love Story, wrote about her love story with her husband, Eric:
But we knew that God wanted something different for us. He wanted to
remain at the center of our relationship not just in theory, but in reality.
We realized that if we started focusing on our feelings for each other rather
than our mutual passion for Christ, we would push Him to the outside of
our romance. (Ludy 46)
It is important for each person in a relationship to have their own experience with Christ. Often
times, couples may start out with a relationship focused on God and then later on they may give
in to their emotions and shift their focus onto each other.
Leslie Ludy continues in her article, Because we were committed to keeping Jesus
Christ at the center of our conversations, phone calls, and letters, we were able to build a strong
spiritual foundation for our relationship (Ludy 50). When Christ is at the center of a relationship

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it will be evident even in the small areas. The ways the couple spend time together and the words
they speak will be centered on bringing glory to God.
When a young person is considering marriage one of the most vital questions for them to
ask is not about the other persons appearance or even their personality. The most important
question for them to ask is, Do they love Jesus like I do? Perhaps a young Christian has found
another person who meets all the requirements they had envisioned in a spouse accept one vital
component- they are not a Christian. This could be a moment of temptation for the young person
to compromise and follow their emotions, but this would not lead to a marriage that would
glorify God. In this instance as well, God must be put at the center of the relationship. If a
couple does not share a mutual love for God they will never have the true connection that God
wants all His children to have in marriage. It is not enough for them to be sympathetic or
understanding of religion. They must both have the same love for God. If not, the two will be
unequally yoked and while they may have a few things in common they will not share what is
most important. In everything they do they will have an underlying tension. They will not be able
to share their love of God together and neither will be satisfied.
They also will not be satisfied if they think of Christ as a temporary substitute until their
future spouse comes along. This will lead them to ultimately become distracted and begin to look
to their spouse to satisfy their needs instead of Christ. A relationship which is centered on God is
what will lead to both parties being satisfied. If they are both looking to each other to satisfy
their needs it will only breed discontentment and jealousy. However, when both the husband and
the wife look to God to meet all their needs they are in the position to focus on the other person
and pour out their time and attention to them.

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Works Cited
Ludy, Leslie. "Building a God Written Love Story." Setapartgirl 1 July 2013. Print.
The Remnant Study Bible: With E.G. White Comments. New King James Version. ed. Coldwater,
Mich.: Remnant Publications, 2009. Print.
White, Ellen Gould Harmon. Letters to Young Lovers. Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Pub.
Association, 1983. Print.