Marriage Life

Being married carries such a joyous blessing. Being able to share every aspect of life with someone and always knowing they'll be there forever to see you get old and gray, and still love you is a wonderful feeling.

Marriage is a serious thing. It doesn't come easy, and sometimes it's days are filled with more frustration than love. But, marriage is a reflection of Christ and the church, and I can't help but remember how often God had every right to be frustrated with me (even though that isn't in His nature). God's sacrifice to sill love me and have patience with me even when I was treating Him so poorly, reminds me that through God's power and Holy Spirit I can too love my husband through anything. And because I know his heart, he does the same with me too.

You see marriage isn't an end all. It's a beginning. It's an adventure. It pulls you and exposes your wretchedness. It makes you completely bare before another person, exposing your dark secrets, and shining a flashlight in every corner. Sometimes it can be really scary. I'm not going to lie. Especially when your spouse is a Believer, there is an added challenge set in place. Because then, your marriage isn't about feeling good every day and living in la la land until one of you comes back to reality. When you and your spouse are Believers, the vow you took at your wedding was not just some sweet sentiment...it was a binding covenant that holds in this world and in the spiritual one. So if you think you have the world fooled, just realized, the spiritual world isn't so easily deceived. You can't hide from God. And He doesn't take covenants lightly. Otherwise, how could we rest so firmly on the one He made with us through Jesus?

When our darkness is revealed as a single adult, we bring it to the Lord and ask for forgiveness and work on changing and being better. When you're married, you have to do all that, and also do the same thing with your spouse. Because you are no longer one person, you are no longer the only one effected by your sin and darkness...your spouse either is, or will be effected by it. Because if it isn't addressed, satan will use it against your marriage. Marriage is a covenant reflecting Christ and the church and you better believe satan hates it. Just look at the way he has been working for centuries to change the meaning of marriage. If satan isn't attacking you, be ready for him to be attacking your spouse. And you need to decide before that happens, what you're going to do about it.

Infidelity is a huge culprit in divorces today. Spouses are giving up on each other the moment sin is exposed. Forgetting that not one person is without sin. We are not perfect, yet God never breaks His covenant with us no matter how many times we lie, cheat, blaspheme and walk away from Him. Humans are not perfect, we are incapable of doing good on our own. But when people know the Lord and the Holy Spirit resides in them...then, they are capable. But so many people walk away from their marriages. They forget the covenant. A covenant that does not reflect them and their feelings, but it reflects Christ and the church...the same Christ whose Spirit dwells in everyone who Believes. When we have Christ, we can do all things. We can love through anything. We can pray for those who hurt us. We can confess our sins so we leave no room for satan's schemes. We can, because Jesus does.

My faithfulness to my husband has little to do with him and his performance, or how he makes me feel. When I made my vow on that stage the day of my wedding, I said those words to God as I addressed them to my husband. God is the reason I am faithful to my husband. God commands me to pray for my husband, to respect my husband and to love my husband. I don't obey God for my husband, I obey God for me, because I am God's Girl no matter if I am married or single, alone or in a crowd. I am God's Girl forever...even after death. So how can I place one man's sins above my obedience, devotion and love for God? This man I am married to is just as sinful as I am. To expect anything more is insane. I wouldn't want him expecting that of me.

I want to treat my husband how I want to be treated. When I stumble, I want him to help me up. When I sin, I want him to pray for me and push me to the Lord and back into obedience to my first love. When I am in a bad mood and I hurt him, I want him to tell me. I want him to respect me in public and always have my back. I want him to be an ear for me to share my heart with, even when my heart is confused. Who am I to expect things from him if I am unwilling to do the same for him?

God is the only perfect one in this story. And when I set down my pride and surrender to His will, my marriage becomes extraordinary both in this world and the spiritual one.