Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Christ-centered Marriage

“Blessed are the husband and wife
who humbly dedicate their lives and their home to Christ
and practice the teachings of Christ in their home
by being unselfish, loyal, and loving.
Author Unknown
This coming Friday, my husband and I will be celebrating our 21st anniversary. I can never thank God enough for how He has blessed my marriage and family. I love this quote because I wholeheartedly agree with it. Christ-centered marriages are successful, lifetime-lasting, blessed marriages! Both my husband and I are far from perfect but we both love the Lord and put Christ above all else. "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:12b) Christ holds us together through trials and storms. When your spouse's goal is to please and honor God in all he does and says, you definitely benefit and are blessed beyond measure. And vice versa. I'm so grateful that I'm married to a man after God's own heart. I keep telling my husband that I feel like I'm the most blessed wife :). We sometimes fail in our attitudes, actions, and words but thankfully, we are pretty good at forgiving :). Great marriages take lots of prayers and lots of work...ongoing work ("practice the teachings of Christ in their home").

Unselfish
Love is not self-seeking! "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:3-5) In my opinion, self-centered people should never get married. I believe most problems in marriages can be traced to self-centeredness/selfishness. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. In your relationship, are you more interested in giving/serving than getting/demanding or the other way around?

Loyal
Love always trusts! Husbands and wives need to be able to trust each other completely. Loyalty is the key. Keep your heart loyal/faithful to God ("humbly dedicate their lives and their home to Christ"), your spouse, and your family always. Guard your eyes, ears, lips, hands, and heart from temptations and avoid putting yourself in vulnerable or compromising situations. Not even flirting.

Loving
Love like Jesus! Unconditionally, selflessly, and sacrificially! God spells out what true love looks like in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
Love encourages rather than envies
Love notices rather than neglects
Love comforts rather than complains
Love appreciates rather than aggravates
Love makes sacrifices rather than makes excuses
Love seeks to understand rather than demands to be understood


I'm truly blessed to be married to my best friend/the love of my life who is as much a Jesus freak as I am :).
You're invited to share your thoughts about the quote above on your blog and then link up your post here. To learn more about "In Other Words"(what it's about, how it works, and how it originated), visit here.

 

This post is also linked up with Faith-filled Friday @Beholding Glory, Spiritual Sundays, Sharing His Beauty @The Beauty in His Grip, Playdates with God at The Wellspring, and "Hear It, Use It" @Graceful.


1 comment:

Karen said...

That was really good. I put a picture of my hubby on too. You guys look like a great couple. Thanks for today's quote and the thoughts it provokes us to listen to in our hearts.

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