We [should not] make the mistake of thinking that marriage will provide the ultimate satisfaction for which we all hunger. To assume so would be to be guilty of blasphemy. Only God satisfies the hungry heart. Marriage is but one of the channels He uses to enable us to taste how deeply satisfying His thirst-quenching grace can be.
Interpretation
Marriage is not the ultimate source of fulfillment; only a connection with God can truly satisfy our deepest longings.
In this quote, Sinclair B. Ferguson emphasizes that while marriage can bring joy and companionship, it should not be viewed as the ultimate solution to our desire for satisfaction. Instead, true fulfillment comes from a relationship with God, and marriage can serve as a means to experience that divine grace. The quote highlights the importance of recognizing that no earthly relationship can fully satisfy the human heart's deepest yearnings.
In practice
In a wedding speech, you could mention how important it is to seek fulfillment beyond just marriage.
It is God who gives us the spirit of worship (Psalm 133:3), and it is what we know of God that produces this spirit of worship. We might say that worship is simply theology, doctrine, what we think about God, going into top gear! Instead of merely thinking about Him, we tell Him, in prayer and praise and song, how great and glorious we believe Him to be!
Failure to deal with the presence of sin can often be traced back to spiritual amnesia β forgetting our new, true, real identity. As a believer, I am someone who has been delivered from the dominion of sin and who therefore is free and motivated to fight against the remnants of sin in my heart. You must know, rest in, think through, and act upon your new identity β you are in Christ
When the New Testament speaks about the fullness of grace which we find in Christ, it does not mean only forgiveness, pardon and justification. Christ has done much more for us. He died for us, but he also lived for us. Now he has sent his own Spirit to us so that we might draw on his strength. He grew in grace, and when we draw on his power we shall likewise grow in grace.
The fear of the Lord tends to take away all other fears... This is the secret of Christian courage and boldness.
When you look at the Cross, what do you see? You see Godβs awesome faithfulness. Nothing β not even the instinct to spare His own Son β will turn him back from keeping His word.
Knowing God is your single greatest privilege as a Christian
Plenty of the women who were single in the nineteenth century wrote about their desire to evade marriage. Marriage was scary in a lot of ways. It often involved having a lot of kids, losing your autonomy, being in service to a husband and children who were often born at an unremitting pace without the benefit of modern medicine.
Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret.
It's hard to be the one always waiting. I mean, there's something to be said for the hero who charges off to battle, but when you get right down to it there's a whole story in who's left behind.
In love, for example - the so-called love - we are 'related.' We appear to be related. We create the fallacy of a relationship, but in fact we are just deceiving ourselves. The two will remain two. Howsoever near, the two will remain two. Even in sexual communion they will be two. This two-ness, this duality will never last. So a relationship is only creating a fallacious oneness. It is not there. Oneness can never exist between two selves. Oneness can only exist between two no-selves.
Class can 'walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch.' Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because that person is comfortable with himself.
The measure of self-assurance is how deeply and sincerely interested you are in others; the measure of insecurity is how much you try to impress them with you.
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