Beautiful Relationships
How beautiful can relationships be when they help us to serve and worship the Lord with single-minded devotion? Below is a passage from a 2nd century Christian praising the beauty of a marriage that works like this, and I'd go so far as to say that any relationship that works like this, whether a friendship, a marriage, a church small group, or any other, is absolutely beautiful.
Perhaps our first consideration when deciding whether to marry, whether to have children, whether to take a job, or whether to do any number of other "normal" things should not be our own happiness or comfort, should not be whether we can argue that said thing is a blessing from God, and should not be whether it conforms to societal (or "Christian") expectations. Perhaps our first consideration when deciding how to live in marriage, how to raise children, how to work in our jobs, or how to do any number of other things should not be how others expect it to look, should not be how to conform to some sort of external norm ("Christian" or otherwise), and should not be how we can make ourselves look most impressive.
Perhaps our first consideration in all these things should be how we can live lives of single-minded devotion that glorifies and pleases God.
From Tertullian:
What a marriage is that between two believers! They have one hope, one desire, one way of life, the same religion. They are brother and sister, both fellow servants, not divided in flesh or in spirit -- truly "two in one flesh," for where there is one flesh there is also one spirit. They pray together; they prostrate themselves together; they carry out fasts together. They instruct one another and exhort one another. Side by side they are present in the church of God and at the banquet of God; they are side by side in difficulties and in consolations. Neither ever hides things from the other; neither avoids the other; neither is a grief to the other. Freely the sick are visited and the poor are sustained. Without anxiety, misgiving, or hindrance from the other, they give alms, attend the sacrifices [of the church], perform their daily duties [of piety]. They are not secretive about making the sign of the cross; they are not fearful in greetings; they are not silent in giving benedictions. They sing psalms and hymns one to the other; they challenge each other as to who better sings to God. When Christ sees and hears such things, he rejoices. (To His Wife 2.8; quoted in Early Christians Speak, 3rd ed., by Everett Ferguson)
