You Don't Complete Me

  • Feb 21, 2010
  • Series: The Genesis of Dysfunction

Our culture has placed very high value on romance. The world we live in says that it is of the utmost importance to have a significant other to love. We see movies like Jerry Maguire with that famous "You complete me" scene, and we hear our singers sing about not having a personal identity without a lover (just check out LeAnn Rimes belting out the chorus to "How do I Live"). Pre-married couples going through pre-marital counseling with one of our pastors take measure of an area called idealistic distortion which helps them see just how perfect they think life is going to be once they marry their fiance. That measure of distortion is very high in our culture today with most young couples believing that life will be "complete" and perfect once the marriage ceremony has occurred.

In this culture that defines fulfillment based on the perfection of a partner, we see women feeling increasingly powerless and invisible if a man doesn't love them because their personal value is based on romance and love. Men on the other hand feel insignificant and empty without a beautiful woman on their arm because their value is based on sex and a companion in life. So what happens the first time your spouse lets you down? What happens the first time you let your spouse down? What if your spouse is not there because of sickness or even death? How do we respond?

We have set up our most important relationships for failure by expecting our spouses to be everything for us and to us. When we make romantic love, sexual fulfillment or event our spouse into a god in our lives, the consequences can be far reaching. We all need to figure out how to honor and love our spouse well without falling into the trap of idolatry.

To set the stage for this week's message - we encourage you to remember the context of Jacob's life in Genesis 25 - 28. Remember that Abraham's son was named Isaac, and Isaac had two sons, Esau and his younger brother Jacob. With the help of his mother Rebekah, Jacob steals Esau's birth-right by tricking Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing instead of first-born Esau. 

For more about the context, we pick up on Sunday's message as our lead pastor, Keith Ferguson, walks us through Jacob's flight away from his brother.