The Secrets of Your Identity IllustrationsSample

Analogy #5: Be the Pure, Virtuous Bride of Christ

The church is the bride of Christ.

This last analogy is another that the apostles and Jesus frequently used—that of a bride. All through the Gospels, we find many parables and metaphors related to the idea of a bride or a bridegroom. The apostle Paul had this concept in mind when he oversaw the churches he’d founded. The idea is that the church is the bride of Christ.

"For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ." —2 Corinthians 11:2, NLT

Paul’s goal was to keep the church pure while it waited for the Bridegroom to return and take His bride back to His home. In Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1–13), it is clear that the women were waiting for the groom’s return and that they needed to have oil in their lamps so they could go meet the bridegroom and be welcomed in to the marriage feast.

Why is understanding this bride and bridegroom concept important? It has to do with the seriousness of the vows you take when you get married. Once you take the marriage vows, you are held to the standard of marriage—the highest standard of rules in a relationship.

A bride is held to a higher standard, which can be summed up in the following ways.

Standard #1: Partnership

A bride is a partner to her husband. I have had the privilege of being married to Ibelize Pagani (aka Momma Pagani) for twenty-four years, but we couldn’t have gotten this far unless she had partnered with me.

Your freedom can be enforced only if you partner with the Holy Spirit. He won’t force you to do so. But choosing to partner with Him means you will submit whenever the Holy Spirit instructs you about something that will help you keep the door shut to evil things. Partnering requires a contractual agreement. When you went through the ministry of spiritual warfare, you in essence signed a contract of liberty with God. It requires you to partner with Him to continue to guard your soul.

Standard #2: Help

Eve was created to be Adam’s “help mate” (Gen. 2:18). In other words, Eve was created to help Adam meet the requirements God had given him.

You must be a willing helper to your own soul regarding your own freedom. If you won’t help yourself, then you won’t be able to fulfill all that God requires from you. A wife must help her husband, not stand in his way by being difficult.

Standard #3: Service

Just as a wife serves her husband in various ways, so should the bride of Christ serve Him. We must be willing to serve Him with singleness of heart and mind.

I know this might sound strange, but you must serve your own soul as well. Be willing to listen to your spirit when it’s talking to you through discernment. Many believers and ministers are so busy serving and helping others get set free that they have no time to separate from their work and nourish—serve—their own souls. Don’t help the world and lose your own soul in the process. Make it your business to focus on your soul, like a bride makes time for her groom.

These are only a few of the identity comparisons found in the Bible. There are many more, but these are some of the most popular—and the most relevant to maintaining your spiritual freedom in the long term.