If I was ever asked to give just one tip for making marriage great, it would be this:
Make God #1.
In your marriage, in your life, in your thoughts and actions.
When God gave the Ten Commandments, he began like this:
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me." Genesis 20:1-3
Having "no other gods" doesn't simply mean not worshiping false idols or the gods of other religions. It means not putting anything in one's life before God--and that includes one's spouse!
In the book of Matthew, a lawyer questioned Jesus and asked
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40
What are we to do above everything? Love God with all our "heart, soul, and mind." In other words, with everything we have in us. And second, we are to love those around us as we love our spouses.
I don't want this to be all about what we do. Because ultimately, life isn't about us. Marriage isn't about us. It's about God. Life is a gift from him. Marriage is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest gifts God's given us in this life. In marriage, God has given us a picture of the kind of sacrificial, selfless love he has for us. Of course, marriage doesn't always perfectly reflect that love--in fact, no marriage is ever perfect. That's because all marriages are between two sinful human beings. But God shows us grace, and blesses us despite our failures and shortcomings. He continues to pour out his love abundantly on us and our spouse, even when we don't deserve it. And God's love for us enables us to love one another.
The best thing any person can do for their marriage is to focus on God. Our spouse will fail us, and we will fail them. But God is always faithful, and we can trust that when we do fail, he will forgive us and renew us and our marriage.
What do you think? Is this a helpful suggestion for marriage? What's the one best tip for marriage you would give?
Linking with: The Better Mom, The Modest Mom, Yes They're All Ours, What Joy is Mine, The Alabaster Jar, A Proverbs 31 Wife
Linking with: The Better Mom, The Modest Mom, Yes They're All Ours, What Joy is Mine, The Alabaster Jar, A Proverbs 31 Wife
"I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you, because your faith is being proclaimed in all the world..." from Romans chapter one.
ReplyDeleteI love you Jaimie Elise!
Thanks Mom! It was so good to visit with you tonight. Your encouragement is such a blessing to me!
DeleteLove it!! Yes, this really is the number one thing, and I think the reason so many marriages don't end up working...obviously, those who are not Christian don't put God first, but the lie about marriage being to make you happy is believed even by Christians. And, there are far too many Christian churches out there that teach that it's all about what we DO for God, and while sure, that's putting Him first, in the end it doesn't work that way. Does that make sense??
ReplyDeleteOh yes, it makes sense. What we do for God is important, but that's not THE most important thing. Ultimately, it's all about HIM, and what he has done for us. Yes. :)
DeleteI needed to hear this today! It's somewhat in my nature to try to FIX things, and alot of thought goes into how to make my marriage better. This is SO true and such a good reminder. Not only does focusing on God help the marriage, but it takes my eyes off of the hurts.
ReplyDeleteGOD is faithful and has given me all that I need for life and godliness! He is trust-worthy :)
Bless you today!
Christine, I'm so glad! I totally understand. And yes, focusing on God helps remove stress, fear and worry--because we're focusing on how good He is and how much He blesses us! Yes! Thank you so much for this. :)
DeleteThis was an excellent post and what you wrote made such alot of sense.
ReplyDeleteBeing a widow I can see why God decided he wanted my Mother and Husband. They passed away 2 months apart many years ago.
Thanks for a most interesting and comforting read.
Yvonne.
Thank you, Yvonne. :)
DeleteGod is number 1 others are 2 we are 3 (or last)
ReplyDeleteI used the acronym with my kids JOY
Jesus Others You
As humans we worry way too much about #1 (ourselves) we have misplaced the order and in so doing the focus of life
beautiful post and beautiful blog
I've heard that before, too! And I love it. Keeping our priorities in order will help us have the most joyful life we can. :) And YES! You are absolutely right.
DeleteThank you so much!
Amen! So glad to have found your blog. New follower here. I'm stopping by from the "A to Z" challenge and I look forward to visiting again.
ReplyDeleteSylvia
http://www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/
Thank you so very much, Sylvia! I'll be sure to hop over to your blog! :)
Delete