Last night I had the precious opportunity to teach on marriage at church. So I talked about my marriage and what makes it work. There were 7 values I used to make the point of a perfect marriage. Now no marriage is perfect but when you add Jesus to it and the other values it is as close as it gets. So here are the values from the very beginning 1. know each others expectations. When communicating them be realistic. 2. Be completely honest about everything and communication is a vital part of a healthy relationship. 3. Our marriage comes first before any other relationship in our lives including family and friends. 4. Respect if you can't say something nice don't say it. Words have power. Don't go down a road it will be difficult to come back from. Always be considerate of your spouses feelings. Treat your spouse as you wish to be treated. 5 Submission: Not easy but necessary. God commands a wife to submit to her husband and a husband to love his wife as Christ loves the Church and gave his life for it. The Bible says as Christians we are to submit one to another. So first a wife must respect her husbands position as head of household. She must give him that authority. When your kids see mom respect dad they will too. Mom has the most influence on the children. Don't rob your husband of his manhood. Men are to love sacrificially and be forgiving. His submission is to the marriage itself every decision he makes is for the good of the marriage. As Christ laid down his life for the good of the church. 6. Intimacy: It goes beyond sexual intercourse. If your spouse was in a car accident or had an illness that rendered him or her unable to perform the marriage is not over. Intimacy is a sharing of ones soul; it is a deep connection that sex by itself cannot fill. 7. The number of perfection: What makes a marriage perfect is that it is in Christ. You pray together, you pray for each other, you read the word together and lift each other up.
Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Eccl. 4:9-12
When my husband is struggling in his faith I always take every opportunity to pray for him or with him. I share with him the scriptures God gives me to comfort him. We talk for hours sometimes about God and our circumstances even through the night sometimes. Recently I have been growing tired and finding it hard to get alone with God as I usually do. But my husband has just rose up as if out of no where and started posting prayers on fb that encourage me and giving me words and scriptures to lift me up. He has been my help in a time of trouble by bringing me back to God. So that is what makes it perfect the threefold cord, my husband, myself, and Jesus Christ. When we made our vows to each other we said the usual To honor, obey, in sickness, in health, but we added this "We will never talk about or think about divorce, we will fight the good fight of faith in Christ our Lord Amen." I live out my days to fulfill those vows. God gave me a husband that I love with all my heart but it is because of Christ that we grow ever stronger and closer together with each passing year. He is the foundation on which we stand. I pray that this helps someone out there who needs this type of relationship in their life.
