Marriage is complicated and can last for a very long time or for a very short time. What is your story? How many times have you taken that step in your life?
What were the best times of your marriage? What were the most difficult times? Maybe you were very young or maybe you waited until your career was in place. Maybe you married because a baby was on the way, or you just wanted to get out of your parents’ home, or you needed someone to love you and who you could love because you didn’t have that growing up. Maybe it was the right time, the right place, and the right person. What is your story?
Maybe you had all the trimmings of a beautiful wedding event or maybe you went to the courthouse. Possibly you got married in a church or maybe in a garden or on the beach. Maybe there were hundreds to witness your vows or maybe it was just the two of you with a couple of witnesses.
The question is: How did that marriage work out? Are you still married? Why or why not? Is your life filled with joy, contentment and love or is did it turn into a battlefield?
If you are no longer married, can you see a pattern in your life? Did your parents have the same kind of marriage? Did your past relationships end up the same way? Are the issues the same throughout your life? Think back and see if you can find how your past has played out in your life now.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. LOVE NEVER FAILS.” I Corinthians 13:4-8a
Look at the list in the scripture above. No marriage is perfect because no human being is perfect. This is, however, God’s ideal for marriage. What components have taken root in your marriage and which ones are missing? If you are single, which ones were lacking in your broken relationships?
Take a closer look. DEEEEEEP! Which components do you see in yourself? Which ones are lacking and why? What do you need to do to become all God wants you to be individually and in a relationship?
The long and the short of it? Strive to be all God made you to be, become the spouse He intended you to be and “do the work to make it work”. I think I will go and give my Ivan a hug and thank him for being wonderful godly husband for the last 39 1/2 years!
A good study for you might be at www.robynbministries.com/chainednomore check it out. It could make all the difference in the world.