I’m not sure where I first heard the expression, “…runs like a song,” but perhaps I heard it from my Dad who worked a lot on engines. When a motor was running in a way that was smooth and seamless, he would use phrases like, “Purrs like a kitten,” or “It runs like a song.”

We’re going to piggy back on that phrase and use it to describe a relationshp between a man and a woman. What we’re going to be looking at applies to dating as well as a marriage because in the end, regardless of where you’re at, you want your relationship to “run like a song.”

Hopefully, I’ll be able to take those things your Mama and I have learned after having been single and now on the other side of almost 30 years of wedded bliss and package them in a way that will not only benefit you, but give you something that you can hand your kids when it’s their turn to date and choose between “making it work,” or “making it sing.”

So, How do You do It?

How do you position yourself and your sweetheart in a way where you keep your unmet expectations from morphing into ugly dealbreakers? How do you manage the various temptations you have to negotiatate in a way where you’re able to rise above all of what would otherwise inspire some unhealthy concessions?

While there’s any one of a number of practical “tips” you could potentially learn and deploy, the fundamental starting point for relationships and life in general is, and always will be, your relationship with Christ.

Here’s the Thing…

Too often, one’s spiritual disciplines tend to be subconsciously categorized as noble chores – things you do when you’re feeling especially “religious” or when you’re in a crisis situation.

You don’t want to do that.

Think about it:

Money

But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (Dt 8:18 [see also Josh 1:8; Prov 23:4-5])

Fitness

Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path: ²⁰ Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, ²¹ for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. (Prov 23:19-21 [see also Rom 12:1-2; 1 Cor 6:19-20)

Work

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. (Ecc 9:10 [see also Eph 6:5-8])

There isn’t even the slightest nuance of the human experience that doesn’t stand to be dramatically improved by filtering it through your relationship with Christ.

And the same thing applies to relationships.

It’s not just being “moral.” That’s the shallow end of the pool (Heb 13:4; 1 Cor 6:18). Again, it’s not just making things “work,” you want them to “sing.”

So, what do you do?

Click here to access “Make It Sing | Part II!”