MARRIAGE,
SANCTIFICATION IN

IN OUR war against terrorism, there are Special Forces, the Army Rangers, the Green Berets, the Navy Seals, the Delta Force—these are special people who are cut out from the crowd, who are set apart from the rest of the general armed services. These are no ordinary soldiers; they are cut out from and a cut above the rest.

God is calling men to be sanctifiers, men who set themselves apart, and are set apart, for the purpose of the transformation of their mates from where they are into what they ought to be. That’s sanctification, requiring a Savior first.607

[Discipleship; Holiness, Importance of; Sanctification; Spiritual Transformation]

Matt. 28:19–20; John 15:8

I LIKE lollipops. If I offer a wrapped lollipop to another person, they would probably take it. However, if I take the wrapper off, lick it, and then offer it to another person, they most likely wouldn’t be interested anymore. Why? Because by licking it, I have made it mine. I sanctified it.

Now having licked it initially, I confirm that it is mine. As I continue to enjoy it by licking it, I actually begin assimilating what I own. If I lick it not only will I own it, but it becomes less and less its own thing and more and more a part of me. One lick won’t assimilate. One lick will only give me a taste.

On a man’s wedding day, he takes a lick. But in order for true assimilation to occur, he has to keep on licking until, after awhile, there is nothing left and the lollipop, his sweet thing, has become a part of him.

First a man sanctifies his wife and then he continues to sanctify her by continuously bringing her into the realm of his love and kindness and shepherding care, until they are utterly and completely one.608

[Marriage; Men, and Their Wives]

Gen. 2:24; Mark 10:7–9