The definition of “Committed Independence.”
A non traditional relationship, committed to everyone maximizing his or her own potential in God. It doesn’t fit any normal thing that you know – it’s a foretaste of our inheritance in the world to come.
What I am about to share with you is next level revelation. This means that these precepts are a mixture of what is now true and what will be. You may not understand what I write at first, but as we all begin to step into the Tabernacle Experience, many of these concepts will become extremely relevant. My heart is that you be prepared, at least to the degree possible, to both accept and benefit from what our God is about to do.
In the Spirit there is no need to control others.
To begin with, jealousy, like vengeance, is God’s domain, not ours. When we yield to jealousy, we often act unpleasantly in order to control others. This is particularly prevalent in marriage relationships, where one or both of the members almost imprison the other in order to feel secure themselves.
Sometimes, men seek to control whom “their” women associate with in order to limit the possibility of infidelity. Women sometimes watch their men like a “hawk” in order that they not be poached by another female. When people have jealous rages they may act out in unpleasant or even violent ways. Why? It is their desperate effort to control their spouse so that “they” do not get their feelings hurt. In many places of the world, the general populace accepts jealousy as a matter of course. However, is jealousy really God’s way?
A higher way and a higher love
I submit to you there is a higher way and, in fact, a high love where people trust each other so much that they live a life of committed independence. This is not simply a notion based on natural minded thinking, but a Spirit-led type of relationship with origins in YHWH’s New Creation. In Spirit-led relationships of committed independence, neither half of the couple controls the other, but God controls them both. This is a foretaste of a “greater than marriage,” that we will experience in the restoration of all things.
Therefore, in New Creation relationships, because God has joined us together, there is no need to police the actions of another. The propensity to stray from a committed relationship does not exist; therefore, even if temptation arises, neither party will have any desire to partake of sin. Through a foretaste of our inheritance in the world to come, this type of union and the peace that comes with it, is possible now.
Committed Independence is a foretaste of the world to come
Committed Independence is, in fact, how New Heavens and New Earth relationships function. People are joined together by God’s Spirit and both yield to His desire. The amazing revelation is that God desires to become one with us as we become one with one another in committed relationships. Therefore, one mate does not have to concern themselves with the whereabouts or company of the other mate, because God is in control of everything. Thus, there is no need for jealousy.
This view of committed independence is diametrically opposed to how people view earthly marriages. In earthly marriage there is committed dependence. Through a written contract with the church and state, many spouses believe they practically own one another. A set of rules, often culturally based, takes full effect when newlyweds sign on the dotted line. Violation of these accepted norms gives rise to feelings of betrayal, anger, and jealousy. Each member of the marriage feels justified in limiting the freedom of the other. Often, marriages degenerate into contests of control, with fear being the prime motivator for obedience. Thus, true loves dies and people become unhappy, living miserably in earthly contracts that essentially imprison them.
Unfortunately, when you control the actions of another, they are not free to be led by God. Fear enters their hearts and they find themselves saying no to God, based upon how they believe their spouse will react. When we are afraid, the will of our Father may be overridden and His purposes frustrated.
Obey God rather than man
I remember the testimony of a certain brother who felt led to minister to a single woman. The Holy Spirit connected them, yet because he was “married,” the church leadership felt their relationship was inappropriate. Instead, they assigned an older, mature woman to “minister” to her. Both the single woman and this brother were devastated, because they felt that god had put them together, yet they followed the will of their church leaders. Several weeks later, the brother felt an overwhelming need to be with this woman, yet did not, because he feared what his church would think. A few days later, the lady was found dead in her home, having committed suicide.
When God speaks to us to minister to another, we must trust Him and do so. Church leadership is often the furthest removed from the will of God simply because they are so natural minded. They want things to look good, acceptable, and proper to the public even at the expense of the individual. Sometimes what the Holy Spirit wants is dead last on the clergy’s list of things to do.
Do what God deems appropriate
In the coming move of Tabernacles, God will begin to lead His people according to His will, often ignoring what man deems appropriate. Real needs of real people will be met in the ways that actually minister to them. What others believe will be irrelevant, because we will obey God, rather than man.
Likewise, spouses will not have to police their mates if their mates are, in fact, given to them by God. What God joins together, no man should or will be able to put asunder. With or without a contract, Divine Mates will live according to a higher law, the First Law, and that will bind their hearts together in a way no marriage certificate could ever do.
The new standard of Divine Divorce
In the future, divine divorce will become a real term in the Christian church. It will come to pass that people recognize that in certain circumstances (each one different and unique) that God will mandate a separation take place. In these Godly dissolutions, our Father will pull them apart, not to punish, but to bless. In His infinite wisdom, the Holy Spirit will lead people to dissolve earthly unions in order to create heavenly ones. Some believers will actually be called to “repent” of their earthly marriages. For some oppressed believers, it will truly be a year of jubilee.
Natural minded people abhor this notion just about as much as nature abhors a vacuum. Most cannot conceive that “Holy Matrimony” is not God ordained. It’s the institution of marriage (don’t you know) that must be protected at all costs, even at the cost of destroying people who participate in it. This is nothing less than the same pitiless spirit that caused men of the cloth to watch people screaming as they burned to death at the stake in order to save their eternal soul.
However, I testify that God has a better way. In God’s economy, He joins men and women together by His Spirit for His own purposes. When He is allowed to do this, He blesses what He authors. Therefore, unity prevails and Divine Mates trust each other without needing to control. God can move on one spouse to do something in another city, with the other yielding comfortably to that leading, knowing in their heart that all will be well. Another can allow their spouse to minister to a member of the opposite sex, knowing that God is chaperoning them both. God leads His people without resistance, because we are safe and secure in His love.
Legalism kills, but God’s revelation gives us life
Legalism kills our spirits. It makes us become little more than animals who act on instinct. Therefore, to be like Jesus, we need to be filled with God’s Spirit of freedom. This includes our spouses, too. If both of you are happy to dwell together, having married traditionally, then let God be the center of your union. If you both made a mistake and God shows you plainly that you did, repent of it. Separate with grace while preserving your Christianity in the process. God does not condemn you, so neither should you condemn one another. The world is a messy place and you did what you thought best at the time…until you knew better. Repenting of your marriage is no different than being led to quit drinking when you are a new convert – you just stop because you know it’s sin and you don’t want to abuse God’s temple.
In conclusion, God wants to lead each one of us through His Spirit, not to harm us, but to bless us. Whenever we say yes to His will, we naturally receive the blessings of obedience. The true Christian church, the called-out ones, will act radically different than what the world deems acceptable. When this happens to you, think it not strange, for God is giving you a glimpse of the world to come.
This may be how the world does it, but God has a better way
Podcast: Committed Independence
In this era, God is bringing a foretaste of the New Heavens and New Earth to His people. And part of this foretaste is God showing us a higher love in our partnerships, marriages, and friendships. How could this look? Listen as we discuss the Christ-like concept of “committed independence”. . .
