A husband's
greatest need is to receive respect from his wife, and a wife's greatest need
is to feel cherished by her husband; so as we meet one another's needs, our
bond of love and unity will increase rather than to diminish over the years.
One of the
best attributes in a good marriage is kindness. When this virtue is present, we
go out of our way to show compassion and benevolence to one another. We
consider each other's needs above our own, and we prefer our mate over our
self.
This does
not imply that we neglect our self, or constantly enable our mate by depriving
our self. Kindness is a give and take proposition where the same person does
not always do the giving while the other does all the taking.
God created
marriage as a union between two individuals that actually becomes one flesh
(Genesis 2:23; Mark 10:8-9). He gives us His Agape love for each other, and we
grow more comfortable in our union as the years of our marriage progress.
At times, we
may feel tired, worried, frustrated, overlooked, neglected, unappreciated or
afraid, and we may tend to speak curtly or with a grouchy attitude. This is a
clue for our spouse to help us to search for the cause of our negative emotions,
to show compassion for us, and to pour out God's love toward us.
We do not
condemn, condescend, criticize or belittle each other in our words, attitude or
actions. We listen to one another, and we share in every decision. We lift each
other up above the world's crass treatment of us, and we make our home a haven for
one another that we enjoy together.
This
practice allows us to help our mate in their inner struggles, and to attempt to
improve the situation by helping to alleviate their stress, or by giving them a
listening ear. Together we take the matter to God in prayer, because praying in
unity is paramount for a successful relationship.
Prayer:
Father God,
fill us with the fruit of Your Spirit by teaching us to surrender our dreams,
plans and goals to Your will. Replace our selfish, carnal character traits with
Your deep and abiding love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness,
meekness, self-control and faith (Galatians 5:22-23). Remind us that we are
Your emissaries in this life and that Your will is our overriding priority.
As we walk
in Your Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of our flesh (Galatians 5:15-25).
We will lay down our life for our mate and for Your Body as we reap the
benefits of Your amazing Agape love. You, our King, died for us; and the least
we can do is to lay down our life for one another. We praise You, and we give
You all of the praise and glory due to Your name.
Thought for
the Day:
In a good marriage,
we rejoice when our mate rejoices, and we share his/her burdens with empathy
and concern, because we sincerely care about each other, and we honestly want
what is best for our mate as well as for our self.
- Romans
12:15
