Many singles think that marriage will complete them. If they can find someone they love or someone who loves them, they will be happy or complete. However, God designs marriage for a man and a woman to become one. The husband will love his wife, and the wife will respect her husband. During the time of dating, we do not normally see the flaws of people, so it is difficult to discern who people truly are. But once the marriage takes place, this is where the husband and the wife can find the imperfections of each other, and it causes a lot of friction and problems in the relationship between the husband and the wife. During my honeymoon with my wife, I realized that I was selfish. I had expectations that my wife would behave in certain ways, but she was not meeting my expectations. On the other hand, I wasn't meeting her expectations. As a result, we had a verbal fight. We were hurting each other with our words. And it was not a good feeling, so I asked God to help us change our hearts so that we could love and respect each other.
God is using my marriage to change me from within. As I learn to love my wife, I have to let go of many things and I need to adjust. I cannot live as a single person anymore. I have to devote my life to loving my wife. Once both of us adjusted, our relationship as a couple improved a lot. We still have arguments, but we are committed to loving each other. One important thing that I learned in marriage is that I cannot change my wife, nor can my wife change me. The biggest cause of our fight is when I try to change my wife, or she tries to change me. I can only change my heart by submitting to Christ, and she can only change when she submits herself to God. In other words, God is the only one who can change our hearts to be the husband and wife that God wants us to be. As long as we submit ourselves to God, our relationship is good. And this is the reason relationship with God is important in marriage. Christians get separated from their spouse or get into divorce because both the husband and the wife stop submitting themselves to God, or one of the spouses refuses to submit to God.
Our relationship with God is the foundation of a good marriage. If the husband and the wife are committed to God, they will be committed to each other. Here is the priority order of my marriage: God first, my wife second, family third, and ministry last. God is our everything in marriage.
Questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully, meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you). What makes a marriage wonderful? Who can change the hearts of the husband and the wife? If you are married, are you prioritizing God in your life? If not, why?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, you instituted marriage; therefore, godly marriage will not work apart from you. For us who are married, please make us the husbands and wives that you want us to be so that we may glorify you in our marriage and have wonderful relationships as couples. For those who are single, please help them to be content with you and dedicate their lives to you. Guide them through their relationships. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.