Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing your story with such honesty. Your request has been heard and is being brought before the Lord with care and seriousness.
What you describe from your childhood is grievous. Parents are given to raise children in sobriety and the fear of God, and when that trust is broken through neglect, drunkenness and the giving of drugs and alcohol, the wounds run deep. The pain you carried and the habit that grew from being given those substances and then taking them is not small, and God sees both the wrong that was done to you and the choices you have made since. There is hope, because God is able to make new what has grown old and broken through sin. When those who have been made new fall back into old age through sin, repentance sets them free from it and makes them strong again by His grace.
We thank God for the mercy you have already known in turning toward sobriety and chastity. That is a good and right path. To keep your body and mind sober and to keep yourself chaste before marriage honors God. Marriage itself is not a hindrance to holiness when it is used with moderation and according to Christ. It is a great mystery, a picture of Christ and His Church, where the soul is united to God in a way that is spiritual and holy, not merely of passion or the flesh. Scripture says he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit, and marriage is meant to reflect that union.
We hear your desire to marry this woman and your desire to be fully converted to Christ. That second desire must come first. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and a heart fully given to Him cannot cling at the same time to new age beliefs. Those beliefs, however lingering, are not from God and cannot stand alongside faith in Christ. They must be turned from and forsaken. We encourage you to bring them into the light, to confess them, to turn from them, and to give yourself wholly to Christ in faith, repentance, baptism and daily obedience to His word. Do not hold back part of your heart. The Lord desires all of it.
We also affirm the wisdom of not entering marriage until that conversion is real and settled. Marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and it carries much responsibility. It is not to be entered lightly or while still divided in faith. Continue as you have begun, in sobriety and chastity, not living together or sharing what belongs only within marriage, and devote yourself to prayer, to hearing the Scriptures, and to fellowship in a faithful church where you can be taught, corrected and strengthened.
We pray for you now.
Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ that you have mercy on this man. Forgive his sins through the blood of your Son alone. Cleanse him from his past use of drugs and alcohol and from all that was done to him and by him. Renew his youth like the eagle and make him new by your grace. Remove every remaining new age thought and conspiracy that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ, and unite his soul fully to you. Grant him sobriety, steadiness and a love for your word. If it is your will, prepare him in due time to enter marriage as a holy covenant that reflects Christ and the Church, in purity and faithfulness for life. Keep him and the woman he loves in chastity and truth until that day. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
What you describe from your childhood is grievous. Parents are given to raise children in sobriety and the fear of God, and when that trust is broken through neglect, drunkenness and the giving of drugs and alcohol, the wounds run deep. The pain you carried and the habit that grew from being given those substances and then taking them is not small, and God sees both the wrong that was done to you and the choices you have made since. There is hope, because God is able to make new what has grown old and broken through sin. When those who have been made new fall back into old age through sin, repentance sets them free from it and makes them strong again by His grace.
We thank God for the mercy you have already known in turning toward sobriety and chastity. That is a good and right path. To keep your body and mind sober and to keep yourself chaste before marriage honors God. Marriage itself is not a hindrance to holiness when it is used with moderation and according to Christ. It is a great mystery, a picture of Christ and His Church, where the soul is united to God in a way that is spiritual and holy, not merely of passion or the flesh. Scripture says he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit, and marriage is meant to reflect that union.
We hear your desire to marry this woman and your desire to be fully converted to Christ. That second desire must come first. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and a heart fully given to Him cannot cling at the same time to new age beliefs. Those beliefs, however lingering, are not from God and cannot stand alongside faith in Christ. They must be turned from and forsaken. We encourage you to bring them into the light, to confess them, to turn from them, and to give yourself wholly to Christ in faith, repentance, baptism and daily obedience to His word. Do not hold back part of your heart. The Lord desires all of it.
We also affirm the wisdom of not entering marriage until that conversion is real and settled. Marriage is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and it carries much responsibility. It is not to be entered lightly or while still divided in faith. Continue as you have begun, in sobriety and chastity, not living together or sharing what belongs only within marriage, and devote yourself to prayer, to hearing the Scriptures, and to fellowship in a faithful church where you can be taught, corrected and strengthened.
We pray for you now.
Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ that you have mercy on this man. Forgive his sins through the blood of your Son alone. Cleanse him from his past use of drugs and alcohol and from all that was done to him and by him. Renew his youth like the eagle and make him new by your grace. Remove every remaining new age thought and conspiracy that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ, and unite his soul fully to you. Grant him sobriety, steadiness and a love for your word. If it is your will, prepare him in due time to enter marriage as a holy covenant that reflects Christ and the Church, in purity and faithfulness for life. Keep him and the woman he loves in chastity and truth until that day. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
