You know that feeling you had when you walked down the aisle? You couldn’t be more delighted. The day more enchanting. Suddenly all the people staring at you disappeared and the man you love standing handsomely at the end of the short journey up the aisle. 

Yes, the sweetness of a wedding day. Something to be cherished for days and years to come. The beginning. The opening line. The “I dos”, the promises on this day to last a lifetime. To hold onto. 

My husband and I have been married for almost four years now. Recently I have noticed our marriage is different then the weeks immediately following the ceremony. I guess you could say we are no longer “newly weds”. Marriage now holds a new kind, a different type of sweetness. We know each other in deeper ways. We have crossed flooded waters and dark storms together. We have faced times of misunderstanding and hurt feelings. We have both wanted to run in the opposite direction and run into each other’s arms at the same time. We have said “I am sorry” and “you were right”. We have been uplifted, encouraged and humbled by one another.  

The more days we have together I see the importance, the need for our Marriage Glue. I see why Jesus is desperately needed for us to work. I see why a three-fold cord brings peace and stability in a marriage.

We, my husband and I are two completely different people. We come with differing perspectives. Talents and passions that aren’t identical. Backgrounds that shaped us in different ways.

While my husband and I are not the same we are brought into unity daily when we rely on the Holy Spirit. When we look out for the other more than ourselves. When we look for ways to serve instead of ways the other should serve me. 

One evening in the kitchen we were laughing as we were trying to scoop out some ice cream. Our freezer seems to have two settings rock hard or cold mush. As Peter worked and worked to scoop me a bowl of ice cream he started singing, “God gave me you…” 

It was a small thing in that moment. A simple bowl of ice cream I could not get with my own strength. As the days went by I saw more and more ways I needed my husband. Ways that he blessed, encouraged and strengthened me. Things on ordinary days I miss. Lose sight of the value of the gift God has given me in this man. 

Have you been blind to the ways your spouse encourages you, blesses you? No one is perfect however often when we look, we can see something more than the frustrations. 

Encourage the sweet fruit you see in others. Acknowledge their strengths. Sometimes weaknesses need to be pointed out and other times it is best to let God work freely in the heart. 

Love the ones God has given you. Love them with an unconditional love. Not for you. For the glory of His precious name. 

 

Matthew 19:4-6 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ESV

Colossians 3:13-14 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. NIV

Colossians 3:18-19 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. ESV

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. NLT