Marriage

Let me start by saying I’m no expert on marriage. I have however been married for almost 8 years now and during that time God has taught me some important lessons that I feel called to share. 

When you first meet and fall in love you may feel that the other person is perfect for you. You imagine getting married and dream about living happily ever after together. I think for many of us those feelings start to change once we are married for awhile. You soon find out that person doesn’t truly make you happy or do everything you imagined a perfect spouse would do. And you know what? You are totally right. 

True satisfaction, acceptance, and joy can only be found in God, not in your spouse. 
Psalm 90:14 tells us, O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 
Isaiah 58:11 says, And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.  
And in Psalm 16:11 it is written, Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. 

God created man and woman for companionship and to help each other as they journeyed through life together; not so they could find full satisfaction in each other. 
Genesis 2:18 says, And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 tells us, Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 

If we look for full satisfaction in our spouse we will undoubtedly be disappointed. Our spouse can never be in the place of God. If we put him or her in that place we make them an idol and set our marriage up for failure. 

God teaches us clearly in His Word that we are to love Him above all. 
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

One way we show our love for God is by obeying Him. 
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

We are to love others in the way God loves us. 
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 

If we don’t love others we don’t know God. 
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 

God’s love is unconditional. Paul gives a description of this kind of love in 1 Corinthians 13. This passage tells us that love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. It tells us that this love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. This kind of love does not give up. 

If we could just remember to look for true satisfaction in God alone, be a companion and help meet to our spouse, and love our spouse the way God loves us, what a difference that would make in our marriages!