…In Your Marriage

S: Ephesians 4:14-16

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15  but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16   from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

(NASB)

O:

I am sure we have all been out and about in public when we witness and parent and child having a disagreement about something, and as you stand there, watching out of the corner of your eye, trying to not look too obvious, you think to yourself, “I wonder which one is the parent and which one is the child”. We had an acquaintance whose son used to do that to her, until she finally had enough and put a stop to it, but simply stepping over him as he lay kicking and screaming on the floor. When he realized she had not responded in the usual amount of time, he immediately quit his antics, looked around, and then got scared. She was standing just out of eyesight, waiting for him to come crashing through the door in a panic.

How long does it take us to grow up as newly weds and stop acting like children, pouting, throwing tantrums, using craftiness and deceitful scheming to get what we want from our spouse. In the early years, we all need to learn to speak lovingly without lashing out. We too often and too easily forget that we are supposed to be on the same team, and that we are not adversaries. When we both learn to work together, yes as individuals, but together for the good of our spouse, we begin growing our marriage to a point where we begin to feel the fun that we can and should have as a couple. There are inevitably going to be enough hard times without having to create extra hard times. Talking and working together on a constant and consistent basis helps you both grow up.

P:

Lord, help us to maintain a learning atmosphere about our spouse, so that we can avoid creating unnecessary hard times. Amen.