In a bad marriage, rather than dream of a better spouse out there somewhere in the world around us, whom we hope to find, we focus instead on how to be a better spouse to and for one another (Ephesians 4:15). As we change, this often inspires our spouse to change as well.
If only one of us strives to improve our attitude and actions, this may not make a difference in our enjoyment of our relationship with our spouse, but it will improve our dependence on and intimacy with God as our true mate. Rather than looking outside of our marriage for fulfillment, we look within our own spirit.
We grow into maturity spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. Our choices are more in line with God’s will for each moment of our day. We learn to take care of our self, rather than expecting our mate to meet all of our needs, which is virtually impossible for them to do. A truly fulfilled life comes from a fulfilling relationship with the Trinity of God within us.
God instituted the covenant of marriage and uses it as a type of His relationship with His Church (Hebrews 13:4; Ephesians 5:25-32). If we look outside of our marriage and our relationship with God to meet our needs, we set our self up for disillusionment and a slippery slide into temptation.
Rather than entertaining thoughts of divorce, we can use our discontentment to fuel our passion for more intimacy with God. When our spouse feels less pressure from us to meet our needs, and he/she sees our commitment to our marriage and our spiritual growth, they may also join us on our journey.
Yet, if they choose divorce instead, it sets us free to serve God with more of our time and energies. Through our sorrow over the unexpected dissolution of our marriage, we can trust that God has wonderful plans for our future as we continue to rely on Him alone to meet our needs (Jeremiah 29:11).
Prayer:
Father God, help us and our mate to view our relationship as the second most important part of our life, second only to our union with You. Teach us to value each other’s place in our marriage, to have patience with one another’s shortcomings, and to appreciate our differences as well as our contribution to our relationship.
Help us to accept one another just as we are, to show compassion toward each other, to cherish our mate’s place and role in our life together, to compliment their contributions to our wellbeing, and to help one another to grow in Your grace as we support our marriage as a vital part of our life. Thank You for showing us Your will for our union, and for showering us both with Your loving kindness.
Thought for the Day:
As we face life’s challenges together as a couple, we learn to unite in our decisions, choices and priorities – making our relationship the bedrock of our life together, rather than an appendage that we can choose to live without; investing in our marriage is the best decision we can ever make, and our life in the long-run will be much improved by uniting as one, rather than splitting apart.
