So you
married a man? Do you love that man? God commands that you love him. It
has nothing to do with your feelings or your expectations.
If you do not love your husband, you are living in sin. Love is not a feeling.
It is a choice. It was the choice you made on the day you said, "I do" and vowed to love him until "death do you
part."
Strange
how easy it seems to be for some women to expect
their husbands to be women; to act like women, to
do what is expected of women. Instead of that, they are men; they act
like men, they do what is expected of men, and thus they do the
unexpected. They surprise their wives by being men
and some wives wake up to the awful truth that it is not, in
fact, a man that they wanted after all. It was marriage, or some vague
idea of marriage, which provided the fringe benefits they were
looking for: a home, children, security, and social status. But somehow
marriage has also insinuated into their cozy lives this unpredictable,
unmanageable, unruly creature called a man. {Elizabeth Elliott}
Yes, some of you will have tribulation in your marriage and are
married to a very difficult man. Life down here is far from perfect. You are
married to someone who is far from perfect. You are far from perfect but this
is how God shows Himself to the world, through us and our imperfect marriages.
We love because He first loved us; not because our spouses are worthy of loving
but because He first loved us.
If God who is perfect can love us who are imperfect and God lives and
works mightily within us, we can love our husbands. We CAN walk in obedience to
Him and He commands that we love the man we chose to marry. Way too many women are not
taking this command seriously. Actually, they probably don't even realize it is
a command, but it is and we must obey it if we are to reap God's blessings in our lives.
You see, when we obey God's commands, we are spreading the Gospel, our
first love. When we love someone for all of our days, the world takes
notice. People even marvel at couples who have been married 20, 30, 40, or
more years. "Wow!
What has kept them together for so long? What is their secret?"
Here is the one word answer, "God." God is the secret. He commands we love
our husbands, so we love them until death
do us part, because He always knows best. This preaches the Gospel in a powerful way. Living out the
Gospel should give us the power to do the impossible; stay married to one
man all of our days. If your husband is unsaved, it may change him and bring
him to repentance. God says you sanctify him as you live with him.
This also asks another important question. If your husband married you, who is at times imperfect, unloving, unsubmissive and maybe even rebellious, would you expect him to be a man of his word and a man of God? Or instead should he throw you out of his life because you do not measure up to his expectations? Do you not desire the same thing you should be willing to give him; kindness, patience, love, understanding and most of all, commitment, if not for love's sake, for the sake of the Lordship of Christ? When the stronger believer is unwilling to do their part through the tough times of a marriage, it makes the Gospel look weak and powerless to change lives, beginning with their own life.
This also asks another important question. If your husband married you, who is at times imperfect, unloving, unsubmissive and maybe even rebellious, would you expect him to be a man of his word and a man of God? Or instead should he throw you out of his life because you do not measure up to his expectations? Do you not desire the same thing you should be willing to give him; kindness, patience, love, understanding and most of all, commitment, if not for love's sake, for the sake of the Lordship of Christ? When the stronger believer is unwilling to do their part through the tough times of a marriage, it makes the Gospel look weak and powerless to change lives, beginning with their own life.
Therefore, wives, love that man you married. Yes, that one! If you find it impossible because of unfaithfulness or abuse, go seek godly counsel, but obey God.
Preach the Gospel to a lost world by loving your husband. Please him, serve
him, respect him, submit to him, and yes, even obey him. "Wow! She's doing the
impossible!" Yes, but
with God, ALL things are possible. And will our obedience return void without its proper rewards in this life and the next? NEVER, as God is no liar, but is always faithful to His Word and His children.
Older women...teach the young women...to love their husbands.
Titus 2:3-5
***The picture is of my parents who have been married over 60 years.
How did they do it? God. Now they have three children and ten grandchildren all
walking in Truth. {And all of their children's spouses and grandchildren's
spouses are walking in Truth.}
***If you
are being physically abused or are in
emotional turmoil because of your marriage,
please read THIS.
