I love that this chapter really focused on the fact that our God is a God of reconciliation. I know that I often look at myself and how often I fail miserably in bringing glory to God…and he still forgives me and reconciles with me. Shouldn’t we try to be more Christ-like in our marriages? Our Father does not keep a record of all the times we have “wronged” him, and maybe we should try our best to do the same in our marriages. This is a hard one for me, but one that I strive to be better about. When we forgive one another, we bring joy to our Father. And the purpose of marriage is more about doing that than bringing joy to ourselves or even to each other.
“In a man-centered view, we will maintain our marriage as long as our earthly comforts, desires, and expectations are met. In a God-centered view, we preserve our marriage because it brings glory to God and points a sinful world to a reconciling Creator.”
It’s also pointed out that keeping a Christian marriage together is a duty, not a choice. I get it, marriage is hard, but the number one purpose of our marriage needs to come first. We cannot call a marriage a Christian one and just hope that it’s what it turns out to be, it's got to be in the forefronts of our minds. We have to live it and it’s HARD! Jesse and I both really struggle with this. This is constantly on my mind during disagreements… I think to myself “Are my reactions and words Christ based, or Stephanie based?” Ehhh, unfortunately 90% of the time I am ashamed of the answer to my question, and then I am again humbled by God's grace and reconcilation with me.
I too enjoyed the focus on reconciliation in this chapter. We're not very good at verbalizing our reconciliation. We just kind of "know" we're over whatever has bothered us. We need to get better at that!
ReplyDeleteI really liked where it was pointed out that marriage is a duty more than a choice. We choose to get married, but after that it is our duty to strive to have a strong, lasting marriage. And, just saying that doesn't make it true. I think that is such an easy trap to fall into. You are so right, it needs to be at the forefront of our minds and we must work for it.
ReplyDelete