Looking for "The One"

I told myself that I was going to get off of singles-based blog posts and try to get back to writing things that are a little more universally applicable... then I came across a story that was just WAY too good to pass up.

Remember that old phrase, "takes one to know one"? I always kind of wondered about that in the back of my mind - If God is gracious enough for me to have a lady in my life once more, what kind of person is going to accept someone like me? And though my mind wanders to all of the different things that make up who I am, it always settles on the same question: does she have to be broken like I was in order for is to have a solid relationship? I keep coming to the conclusion that if she hasn't, she won't possibly be able to understand me. 

Turns out I'm looking at this all wrong as usual. Sure, I'm a triathlete, a father, a traitor, and betrayer, but I've forgotten what actually defines me. I am a redeemed child of the Most High God. Period. Exclamation point. The fact that I belong to Jesus is the only defining characteristic. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come."

So there is a "takes one to know one" mentality here, but the questions that really need to be asked are different. Has he or she experienced real change because of Jesus in her life? That's it. Real change negates the past. Real change can bring together any two people, regardless of who they were. It doesn't have to just be a romance, either. Real change bonds brothers and sisters closer than anything else possibly can. 

So maybe that Spanish lady named Margarita who makes a good one and wants to rub my feet while listening to my mile splits after a long run isn't actually "the one" I'm looking for. We can stop looking for "the one" and only look for The One who is evident in his or her life. God might just surprise you with the type of person you find The One in, but guaranteed, he or she is going to be amazing for you and amazed by you when you are both truly focused on Christ. 

The inspiration for this came from another blog post, "My Wife Has Tattoos: Marriage, New Birth, and the Gospel" by Spencer Harmon and it is absolutely worth the time to read. I eluded to some of this on my post, "What's Your Type?" and I hope you'll go back and read that if you haven't already.