An Exclusive Relationship

An Exclusive Relationship

You must not have any other god but me.

Exodus 20:3

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

1 John 2:15

You say, “That’s not true! I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!” But how can you say that? Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins you have done. You are like a restless female camel desperately searching for a mate.

Jeremiah 2:23

“I, _____, take you, ______, to be my wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.” These are the words a bride says to her groom at the altar. It’s not a promise she makes to many men—just one. Theirs is an exclusive love relationship.

That’s what God wants and expects from each of us—an exclusive love relationship. He doesn’t want anything to take his rightful place in our lives. In the first commandment God is saying, “I am giving myself to you in grace, and I don’t want anything to come between us. I want to be the sole object of your affection, loyalty, and worship.”

One of the ways the Bible describes sin is spiritual adultery. God is our husband and covenant partner and the one we are to love exclusively. Every time we sin, we are saying to God, “God, you don’t love me. You’re not providing for me. So I have to go off to someone or something else for love and provision and protection. You’re not enough.” But the good news is that God forgives and restores spiritually unfaithful people. He invites us back into a loving, exclusive relationship.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

Do you know someone who is faithful? How is that person’s faithfulness evident?

What are some things or people we sometimes turn to in an attempt to replace God?

How can we restore and nurture our love relationship with God if we find that we’ve been unfaithful to our exclusive relationship with him?