Many have uttered these words. Many have pledged their love and made a vow to spend their entire life on this earth with another. Many have walked away from it all.
I am dumbfounded by the number of Christians who so casually walk away from their marriage.
The question I must continually be asking myself is "what can I be doing to preserve my marriage"?
I was stunned this week to find out that a good friend of mine had her husband walk out on her and her child. And as much as I am in shock I can only imagine what it's like for her. This whole situation has made me look at my husband differently. I am not in fear, but I do not want to be naive either.
My marriage, your marriage, every marriage has an enemy. You may think the enemy is pornography, other women, sports, alcohol etc., but these are all just tools that our enemy uses. Our enemy is very real and he has a name... Lucifer, Satan, Prince of Darkness, the Devil. How do we combat this enemy? Prayer, yes. Being plugged into a good bible believing church, yes. Small groups, yes. These are all good things, but these good things alone are not enough. Just ask my friend.
So many Christian women are tricked into thinking that going to church together on Sunday is enough. My husband loves Jesus so we're safe. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And we're setting ourselves and our marriages up for failure if we believe otherwise.
Marriage is work. Plain and simple. And not just the work of doing the laundry, paying the bills and taking care of the kids. When is the last time you cuddled on the couch? When is the last time you actually put on a sexy nighty? When is the last time you rubbed your husband's back? When is the last time you sent your husband a card or love note? When is the last time you got butterflies in your stomach when you looked at your man? When is the last time you sat back and thanked God for your husband? When is the last time you made an effort? When is the last time you did something for the sake of your marriage?
I am not a marriage expert. I am just a woman who loves a man and wants to spend my entire life with him and if I think that we are invincible I am fooling myself. So I want to be combating the tricks of the enemy. I want to be making every effort to make our marriage impenetrable. So if that means that I must do some things that I don't necessarily want to, so be it. If that means giving up some of what I want and expect, so be it. If that means changing how I do things, so be it. Our marriage is worth it.
Marriage is a gift. Unwrap it, take it out of the box and enjoy it for all it's worth. If it breaks, or the batteries die, don't just throw it away. Get out the glue and tape, get new batteries and keep on going.
Father, I ask right now that you would touch marriages all over this nation. I pray that you would raise up wives that would appreciate their husbands, not just in thought but in action. I ask that you would give us the wisdom to know how to love our husbands, show us how to keep our marriages alive and well. I pray for husbands to have eyes for their wives alone. I pray that you would set hearts on fire. I ask that there would be a love revolution in our homes. I pray that we would become selfless in our love for our husbands. I pray that you would restore what the enemy has stolen. I pray that you would open our eyes to see the tactics of our enemy and that you would give us the weapons to combat and defeat him. I thank you that even now you are answering and hearts are being touched by the power of your spirit and marriages are being restored, healed and elevated. I thank you for it in Jesus' name!
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