Sunday, July 15, 2012

Marriage

I was asked to do a devotion for the bridal shower of one of my friends. I thought that I would share it as a post on my blog. All praise goes to the Lord God for my marriage of 33 years. It would not have lasted this long if it hadn't been for God.

Dear Sally,                                                                 July 14, 2012

I was very honored to be asked by your aunt Alice to share a devotion for your bridal shower. However, since today is my 33rd wedding anniversary, I am not able to attend your shower. So, I thought I would write this instead and have it read by someone.

What is marriage? I think the best description comes from Ephesians 5 where Paul talks about how marriage is like the relationship of the church and Christ. (You may turn to the text and read the following.) Verses 22-25, and 28-33 explain how the wife and the husband are to treat one another. Basically, it is with love and respect and submission. If you want to have a successful marriage, then you need to obey God’s Word. Sometimes that is hard to do, but God not only gives the instructions for us to follow, He also gives us the ability to follow it. We just have to yield our will to do His will.

I know that your grandpa likes to use alliterations in his teaching and preaching, so I thought I would use his example and create an acrostic about marriage. So, here are a few things to bring into your married life.

M = Memories. Treasure each one because if you don’t you will begin to forget. Make each moment have meaning. Even if it is just sitting together watching television. It is amazing how quickly time passes and before you know it, you will have been married for years.

A = Admiration. A man needs to be admired by his wife. Give him lots of praise, even for stuff that you think is meaningless. To him it means that you love him and need him.
R = Respect or reverence. This goes along with admiration. You need to respect your man always. There will be times when it is hard to submit to him, but God says for us to trust in the Lord with all your heart. God can make it turn out for your good. Reverence means to be in awe of. Once you realize what a blessing it is to have your husband, you will learn to thank God for everything that your man does or doesn’t do. I remember several years ago when I was once again grumbling about picking up the dirty clothes left on the floor by my beloved. The Holy Spirit asked me if I would rather have my husband or a spotless floor. I decided right then and there that I would never again complain about my husband leaving stuff wherever. Those items are a daily reminder that I still have my wonderful man living with me.
R = Responsibility. Yield your rights and claim your responsibilities. Get into God’s Word and discover how to be the godly wife, and some day, the godly mother, that the Lord desires you to be. Also read good books written by godly women that can help and encourage you.

I = Ignore. Don’t look at the world. Don’t compare your man, your marriage, or yourself with those around you.

A = Admit. When you have made a mistake, when you have sinned, when you have really messed up (yes, it happens to all of us), then you need to admit your fault not only to Christ, but also to your husband. It is amazing what humility can do to lift you up.

G = Give. When you accepted Christ as you Saviour, you basically gave your life to Him. Once you become a wife, you are giving yourself to your husband. It isn’t a one time occasion. You must give yourself always, even when you don’t feel like it.

E = Enjoy. Spend every moment together that you can. Have fun. It doesn’t mean that you have to do something elaborate. Just enjoy being with your husband. If the Lord should bless you with children, your time alone with your husband will be limited. But you need to make time to be alone. I know that there is no other person in my life with whom I would rather spend one moment than with my husband. We love being together. He loves it when I am with him even if it is to just sit there while he is getting his eyes examined.

There is so much more that I could say, but time is limited. And part of marriage is the learning. You can’t teach a child everything that they need to know before they are ready to learn. The same is true in a marriage. There are lessons that God will want you to learn, but He won’t teach them to you until He knows that you are ready for them. Some of the lessons will be hard, just like trying to learn trigonometry. And some of the lessons will be easy, like learning to count. Some lessons will be fun and others won’t. But in every situation, trust in the Lord, wait patiently on Him, obey when He directs, and praise God for His love.

As I close this letter, my prayers go with you and Matt. May the Lord richly bless you and your new life together as husband and wife. Love, Alice J.