THE PRINCIPLES OF A LOVING, GODLY RELATIONSHIP – WOMAN TO MAN (PART 3 – VALUE YOUR MATE)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.

Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.

Song of Songs 1:13-14, 2:4

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Be complimentary and cherish companionship.

These are the first two principles of a loving, Godly relationship a woman should have in relation to her man. There are six more we will cover over the next several days as we study the Song of Songs and today we will look at principle number three: Value your mate.

In a Bible study on marriage I taught recently, one of the key tenets was to see your partner as God’s beautiful priceless gift to you. It’s a point worth considering as we look on the call to value our mate.

First of all, if you receive a gift that has value, don’t you cherish it and seek to do everything you can to take care of it. Now take this to the next level and think of that gift from God. How much more would you want to ensure you did everything in your power to care for the gift He gave you, the rich blessing provided by His almighty hands?

So often, too often actually, we take the people the Lord brings into our lives for granted when we should be treating them like the treasures they are. For we could have been left alone in life but God chose to give us a partner to live and love and learn with through this journey called life. This is not something to take lightly or nonchalantly. No, we are to treat everything that God gives us as being exceptional and invaluable, never receiving His blessings with an attitude of indifference.

Shulammite certainly didn’t look at Solomon this way. Instead, she appreciated Solomon so very much and made it no secret. She loved him, relishing every opportunity she had to spend time with him, taking great pleasure in complimenting him with every chance she had.

Yes, she valued her mate and as we see in our scripture verses today, she speaks of that value in poetic terms as she does with much of her dialogue in this book. Look at these verses from Chapters 1 and 2:

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.

Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.

Song of Songs 1:13-14, 2:4

How valuable was the fragrant myrrh that was so prevalent in biblical times?

In dollars, estimates are that it could have been worth as much as $4,000 a pound. Now that is something valuable, right? It’s this sense of worth that Shulammite attached to her mate, the one she loved to be with, the one she cherished so very much.

She also valued him for his beauty. As we looked at her comments in Part 1, we saw where she complimented him on every part of his body, taking great delight in his every detail. This is how much she valued him, not just a part of him but all of him. Like the splendor of a cluster of beautiful henna blossoms, so was he in her eyes when they were together.

Finally, Shulammite valued Solomon for his love, a love she yearned to be a banner over her, a love she longed for to be a feast in the banquet hall of desire.

Oh how we can learn so much about how to compliment, to cherish companionship, and to value our partners through these words within the Song of Songs. I pray for all women to have the same mind of Shulammite as they share life with the man that God has provided to them as a beautiful, priceless gift.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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