When a couple gets married, there's a common set of phrases they tend to hear: • In sickness and in health. • For richer, for poorer. • For better or worse. While those phrases are familiar, they often make couples feel like marriage is an either/or proposition. We're either rich or poor. Sick or healthy. Better or worse. But is that always the case? What about those in-between times? Those moments when you and your spouse are simply…OK?
Do you always have to be "better" or "worse"? Can you just enjoy the journey together and find happiness in day-to-day living? Now, I know what you're thinking: "Being happy isn't the point of marriage." But God put you and your spouse on a journey together. In Proverbs 5:18-19, He tells us: "..."may you ever be intoxicated with her love."
Happiness enriches our day-to-day and grows from the small moments—the in-between times. Marital happiness isn't dependent on the big surprises or best vacations, just as it's not smothered by the hard seasons that inevitably arise. It is a gift the Lord gives couples to carry a lifetime.
After forty years with my Gorgeous Redhead, I can tell you: the happiest marriages aren't the ones without storms. They're the ones who learned to dance in the rain. You may feel anything but happy with your marriage right now. Maybe you're yearning for simpler times when everything seemed lighter. You're in the right place. Marriage is not supposed to make you happy—it is supposed to make you married. A lifetime commitment until one of you lays the other in the arms of God. Your job is to serve your mate in all circumstances. Ask yourself: "How can I serve you best today?"
The best marriages are where each partner does this. Figure out what blesses your mate and do it often—and do it well—no matter what.
Verses for Today:
Love & Intoxication
"May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love." — Proverbs 5:18-19
Marriage Covenant
"Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." — Matthew 19:6
Serve One Another
"Serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" — Galatians 5:13-14
Love Without Condition
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." — 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Daily Faithfulness
"Each day has enough trouble of its own." — Matthew 6:34
Challenge for the week:
Once daily, ask your spouse this question. 'How can I serve you best today?" Listen. Act. Watch what happens.
