{"id":1924,"date":"2012-02-14T08:48:04","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T14:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/?p=1924"},"modified":"2012-02-14T08:48:04","modified_gmt":"2012-02-14T14:48:04","slug":"marriage-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/marriage-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"I Love You More Than Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #0000ee;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/marriage-ministry\/marriageministry-3\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1929\" title=\"Marriage and Ministry\" src=\"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/marriageministry2.jpg\" alt=\"Marriage and Ministry Blog Tour\" width=\"450\" height=\"158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/marriageministry2.jpg 450w, https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/marriageministry2-300x105.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIf you have to explain to your wife and children why you were gone again, and the explanation is \u2018because of ministry\u2019 \u2013 something is wrong.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The words above, paraphrased from something a friend and pastor said during a short message I was able to hear last month, rocked me.\u00a0 <strong><span>They didn&#8217;t rock me because I was necessarily falling into this problem, but because I knew I had that potential<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Ministry has the opportunity to consume.\u00a0 This can be a good thing, in a way, when we are consumed with an overwhelming desire to see souls saved and those under our leadership equipped and encouraged.\u00a0 However, it can be an incredibly dangerous thing when we are so consumed with ministry that it consumed our thoughts, time, resources, energy, and mental well-being.<\/p>\n<p>For those of us who are married, and especially married with kiddos, being consumed with ministry becomes even more dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not a pastor (yet?), so I can\u2019t even begin to imagine the toll ministry takes on the marriage of a full-time pastor.\u00a0 However, even the limited amount of time I spend as a volunteer leader in the church has sometimes created strain on my own marriage.\u00a0 <strong>So how can this be defeated?\u00a0 A few ways come to mind for me:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Always be consumed with God and His Word<\/strong>.\u00a0 This is one thing where consumption will never be harmful. I have a long way to go hear, especially in modeling it to my family.<\/li>\n<li><strong>After God and His Word, be consumed with your spouse<\/strong>.\u00a0 Invest in your relationship.\u00a0 Ask if ministry is taking a toll on your marriage and be ready to hear, and accept, truth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Show your children that you are consumed with God and with your spouse<\/strong>.\u00a0 Then, love and invest in them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Show your congregation that you are first consumed with God, your spouse, and your children<\/strong>.\u00a0 Model a Biblical portrait of family ministry before church ministry.\u00a0 Your ministry to your family is one of the highest ministries you can have.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take a break<\/strong>.\u00a0 This is completely acceptable and even necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I love ministry.\u00a0 But I love my marriage even more.\u00a0 God, give me the strength and wisdom to keep it that way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Question: How have you worked with your spouse to prioritize how your relationship is balanced with your ministry?<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 5px 5px 0;float:left;height:50px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/marriage-ministry\/\" send=\"false\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"595\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIf you have to explain to your wife and children why you were gone again, and the explanation is \u2018because of ministry\u2019 \u2013 something is wrong.\u201d The words above, paraphrased from something a friend and pastor said during a short message I was able to hear last month, rocked me.\u00a0 They didn&#8217;t rock me because [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[805,23,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-for-worship-leaders","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1924"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1933,"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924\/revisions\/1933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}