In every husband/wife relationship, there is usually a
little corner of the mind that says, “There are some things about this person
that need to be changed. Given some
time, I think I can change them.” Of
course, we all need to change for the better and a spouse can certainly pray
for and encourage that along with compassion and gentleness. But Marriage Today expert Jimmy Evans reports
that couples spend about the first 10 years trying to change each other.
Once a long-term commitment is made in marriage, individuals
want to be accepted for who they are in both strength and weakness. The acceptance levels of idiosyncrasies
overlooked in the dating process can quickly vanish. Life is allowed to become a daily,
nerve-wrecking grind. Expediencies die
unfulfilled. Couples feel that they can
no longer be themselves and in place of acceptance, they feel rejection.
A spouse’s habits or his past life experiences are not the
bullets to fire when we have already accepted that person into our life. That does not mean that you cannot or do not
agree to work through the fallout of past experiences that affect the marriage,
but when we accept someone in marriage, we accept everything about them,
hence the vow, “For better or for worse.”
Three important truths come to mind here...be who you are
all the time, Repent for sin/flesh patterns in your life that do not make up
who you are and need to die anyway, and Colossians 3:13, "Bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you."
Remember and practice these three things and Yes, you will still love each other tomorrow and every day afterwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment