Marriage
is not a cure-all, a panacea for all of our ills in life. We are servants of
one another, and together of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, marriage is
about give and take, not a vehicle to fulfill all of our needs and
expectations.
There
are basic characteristics of a good marriage: unconditional love,
companionship, fun times, shared memories, complimentary ministries, help to
traverse trials, etc. Choosing a mate wisely is highly recommended.
There
are several TV shows, movies and media sites out today that picture the truth
about many marriages: "Desperate Housewives", "Lonely, but
Married", etc.
We
enjoy our mate, accept his/her personality as it is, support their vision and
goals for their life, and realize that we are all human with faults and foibles
of our own. However, some of our mate's decisions or dreams may dishearten us.
At
times, we feel left-out, neglected, over-looked and disappointed. Marriage is
not supposed to make us happy. Instead, we find our joy in our relationship and
service to our Lord. He has a perfect plan for our life (Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 2:20; Proverbs 3:5-6).
If
we look for fulfillment in one person, rather than in our union with Christ in
us, this sets us up for continual disillusionment and frustration. The real enemy
of marriage is to take one another for granted, and to make everything and
everyone - even our children - more important than our marriage.
We
are partners in life with our mate, and we serve King Jesus together. This viewpoint allows us to support, admire,
respect and love each other as we enjoy one another's company. We make plans to
play and pray together often and frequently.
Prayer:
Father
God, help us with our unrealistic expectations for our marriage. Teach us that
looking outside of our marriage for fulfillment from someone else is always a
mistake. No matter how great the other person is, second marriages are never as
good as our only marriage could be with the history and memories of our original
family ties and experiences.
Help
us to make time to enjoy each other, even if it is simply a shared jaunt to the
grocery store, thrift store or doctor's office. We enjoy the simple pleasure of
one another's company in the simple times of life. Remind us that as we find
our fulfillment in our relationship with You, we are two completed individuals
becoming one flesh through our relationship with You.
Thought
for the Day:
In
a Good Marriage, we choose to love even when we disappoint each other, to forge
a friendship from our joint interests, and to enjoy one another' company
through both the trials and the joys of life; and our commitment to one another
helps us to strengthen our commitment to God as well.
