When we invite Jesus to be the center of the focus of our marriage and look to Him and follow the guidance of His Holy Spirit, He guards our marriage against our fleshly instincts and the carnal impulses of our desires. He alone is our source of light and life in our marital relationship that illuminates our common path through life.
God’s Spirit filters our unrealistic expectation that our mate act less human and more intuitive of our needs. As we see our marriage as the wondrous miracle that God gifted us with, we start to grow deeper in our intimacy and friendship with one another.
When we remember that we too are human, we learn to accept what we label as our mate’s imperfections. God inhabits our inadequacies and makes us strong when we feel weak (2 Corinthians 12:9-11). He enables us to look to Christ in each of us to solve our problems, bring unity in our differences, and increase our faith in His faithfulness.
He walks with us and in each of us if we surrender to His Lordship in our marriage. We do not want to fall into the trap of taking each other for granted, having inordinate expectations, or settling for mere co-existing in the same household. We fellowship with our spouse and other Believers and enjoy encouraging spiritual conversations.
Walking in the Spirit enables us to avoid misunderstandings, disagreements, a lack of concern or support, frustration, and influences from our own insecurities (Galatians 5:15-25). This fact increases our intimacy with our spouse. God’s Spirit replaces our carnality with His fruit and matures us spiritually as He lives His life through us.
Allowing our husband to nurture our soul and to “wash us with the water of God’s Word” permits him to feel fulfilled (Ephesians 5:25-57). Giving our wife the chance to nurture, support, influence us, appeal to us, and make suggestions without feeling like she is trying to suppress or control our husband gives her the opportunity to feel safe and a part of a team as co-heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17).
God’s light in each of us helps us to traverse the rocky road of life with wisdom and peace. As our union with the Trinity of God within us deepens, our love for our spouse grows in intimacy as well. We make one another a major priority in our daily pursuits, and we serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).
Prayer:
Father God, we thank You for the spouse Your provided for us and the opportunity he/she gives us to prefer one another, support each other, and influence the daily decisions we make together as a couple. Teach us not to allow the endless drains on our marriage from our children, extended family, vocation, and ministry opportunities to rob us of our intimacy with one another. Help us to cooperate with, cherish, and prefer one another. Remind us that we are co-heirs with Jesus.
Help us not to resent the innate responses that our mate makes which are in keeping with his/her personality and desire to fulfill Your call on our individual role in our marriage. We do not want our relationship to dwindle into a situation where we feel more like roommates than a husband or wife, or to succumb to living in a warzone filled with land mines and enemy gunshots. We want to walk in Your Spirit each moment of the day and to obey Your precepts and plans for us as a couple.
Thoughts for the Day:
Satanic forces are always present to drive a wedge between a couple and to destroy families and homes – especially those dedicated to God. He also uses sinful temptations and distracting busyness to destroy the unity that God desires in our relationship. Therefore, it is important for both mates to love God more than our spouse, and to love our mate more than we love our self.
