The Heart Before the Body
OPENING PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, restore Your divine order in our understanding of love and intimacy. Show us how true passion flows from spiritual connection.
"Strengthen me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am weak with love. His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me."
In ancient culture, raisins were considered an aphrodisiac, and this passage describes the natural progression of physical intimacy following spiritual and emotional connection.
Song of Solomon 2:5-6 (NLT)
REFLECT:
Christian’s message conclusion powerfully challenged our culture's backwards approach to relationships. While society suggests starting with physical attraction and hoping everything else follows, he emphasized God's opposite design - start with the heart, and the body will follow.
This wasn't just theoretical teaching. Christian’s vulnerability in sharing about his initial attraction to his wife, followed by the deeper realization that lasting love requires character development, illustrated this principle perfectly. Physical attraction brought them together, but character kept them together.
The message's emphasis on security preceding passion reveals God's wisdom. When the woman in Song of Solomon feels completely safe, cherished, and secure in her beloved's character, her passion naturally flows. This divine order - character, trust, standards, encouragement, then physical intimacy - creates the foundation for lasting love.
I WILL STATEMENT:
I will be a great partner by putting Jesus first.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, align our hearts with Your perfect design for love and intimacy. Help us build relationships that honor You and reflect Your divine order. Amen.