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You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. — 1 Corinthians 6:13
The two years after my bride lost her battle with cancer are a total blur. Losing a loved one is never easy, but I was in no way prepared for this. I was 23 years old and had just been baptized and joined STUMC the previous year. In other words, I was in the infancy of my faith walk.
My heart was shattered by Lucy’s death. I looked for comfort but was left wanting. Don’t get me wrong: Some tried. Two of my VT friends took turns staying with me to ensure I was not alone the first few months.
My heart cried out to be loved. I had experienced a tremendous love with Lucy, which led me to feel not only her love but God’s love as well. Lucy’s love was stolen from me and I thought God’s love was taken too.
I spent those two years mistakenly trying to regain that feeling of love through physical relationships. This drove me further and further from any type of love especially God’s love. I felt empty during this period and nothing I did could satisfy my need to be loved until thankfully God put this wonderful Czech young lady in my path.
Lust, by definition, is an intense desire. The deadly sin we mainly talk about is sexual desire. The desire for sexual intimacy is not wrong in itself. God created us and gave us this desire. God gave us this desire to be used in marriage.
But lust took my mind and actions outside the boundaries God intended (i.e. marriage) after Lucy passed. Lust turned me away from the very thing I needed and desired most. The more I turned from love to lust, the more I turned away from God.
I was blessed that God placed Zuzana in my path to have us pursue our faith walks and life together. Through our love for each other, we intentionally pursued our relationship with God. In other words, God put these two flawed beings together to stumble down a jagged path to love for Him. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but together our love for each other and God continues to grow.
About Joe Steen Joe is currently the Church Council Chair and a member of IGNITE. He is married to the lovely Mrs. Kalandrova-Steen. They have two awesome sons, Pavel and Milan.