Be My Valentine #3

Song of Solomon 2:15
"Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom."

Is your love and marriage covenant in beautiful full bloom? If it is not I bet you have the little foxes that are chewing away the root and killing your love and covenant. Last night I started to take a look at some little foxes that are on the outside of the covenant that can kill and destroy love and marriage. Gentlemen, even though many of these foxes from last night and more tonight are always not about us, it is our job as men after God to look out for and kill the little foxes before they take affect. Tonight I want to take a look at 8 more little foxes that can kill our covenants before we even know it. Tomorrow I will look at some internal little foxes. So here is the list I have been convicted about

Little Fox #3-Parents/Family- Genesis reminds us that we are to leave our father and mother and cleave to our wives. This means that your wife had better be first in your life in all choices, decisions, and actions. Yes, we are to honor our father and mother but this does not mean that they take precedence over our wives. When we disagree with and even fight with our wives do we run to mommy and daddy? If so that is wrong. We are then putting them before our wives and before our covenants. We need to make it a priority that we place our wives first and foremost in our lives and that she know she comes before our parents and other family so she knows her most important place.

Little Fox #4- Money- This little fox can be a big time killer. Money is all around our lives and money is like a spider web in the fact it is connected to so much. Money comes and goes but the covenant we made with our wives is forever. We should love our wives when there is no money and when there is a ton of money. When money is short, she can comfort and support us and then when money is a lot she can enjoy it with you. If money is a problem we are then called to figure out ways to take the importance off of money and put the importance back into the covenant. Men we need to take the focus off of this little fox and put our eyes back on God and our beloveds.

Little Fox #5-Church- This little fox can be tricky in that we are called to serve and love God but that the church must also have its own place in our lives. We are to love the church but our true love first in this world should be our wives. God created marriage and the covenant before He designed and called the church. That should be the guide for us in the order of importance in our lives. We should partner with our wives in serving in the church together and enjoy the church with them and not place the church before them. The church must come after our wives not before them. Let God bless your service in His church because you first loved His beautiful gift and creation, also known as your wife.

Now I would like to mention a few more little foxes and highlight a thing or to about them.

Little Fox #6- Entertainment- Do you enjoy entertainment together or does it replace her? Do you share dates and fun times out and watching tv and movies together or has the tv replaced her in your life? Do you communicate together and talk or do you just sit in front of the iphone, computer, or tv? These are important questions that can shine the light on this little fox hiding in the bushes.

Little Fox #7- Friends- Do you have mutual friends that strengthen, grow, and nurture your covenant? Or does she have her friends and you have your friends? What do your friends do for you marriage or how do they ruin it and affect it? Think about that.

Little Fox #8- Health- So when she gets sick do you take care of her? Who takes care of the kids when they are sick? If she was to get injured or have a terminal illness would your covenant stand the test? If any of these questions are a problem you have a little fox chewing on your marriage and love root.

Little Fox #9- Goals- Do you have goals together? Or are the goals you have in life all about you? We should be striving together to grow and succeed in life and the joy that God can bring. We should be looking forward to achieving the goals that we desire together and not allow our lives to separate and grow apart in any way. 

Little Fox #10- Security- This little fox can be a big challenge because we desire security and comfort in life. We chase after this feeling and emotion so this little fox can not only come from an external force outside of ourselves but this little fox can also be an internal force from within us as we chase and find security in this life. We should be only finding our peace in our covenant and getting the only security we need in our beloved. Stomp on this tempting little fox before he bites. 

Here are some little foxes and problems that can creep up and destroy our marriage covenant and love. What other foxes did I miss? Tomorrow I want to spend a few words on some internal foxes that we have to stop from inside of ourselves.