Love and Marriage

I’ve been talking a lot about pregnancy in my corner of the internet for a while now because that is the stage of life I am in. It is important to me that I also focus on my marriage, no matter what else is happening in my life. When it comes to priorities, my husband is second only to God. Our relationship is extremely important not only for our health and happiness but also for our children’s well-being.

I recently started a devotional by Kay Arthur called A Marriage Without Regrets. It was recommended to me by another Alabama blogger, Kalyn. I am so grateful for her because this is a study I needed to be doing right now. Please visit Kalyn’s blog. She is so inspirational and encouraging.

In the 5th chapter, we discussed love in marriage and Kay reads from Ephesians 5:25-33 which says:

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her26 to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[c] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

This talks a lot about love and the commands that God gives to husbands on how to love their wives. As wives, we are also called to love and respect our husbands in this way. Kay talks about the fact that love is not just an emotion, it is a choice. You hear all the time about how people are divorcing because they “just don’t love each other anymore.” Can I just say that that’s bull? If love were just an emotion, it would not be a command. Love is so much more. Kay lists out:

Love requires action.
Love demands deeds.
Love wills.
Love acts.
Love moves on behalf of it’s object.

I believe we can apply this not only in our marriages but also in our relationships with our families and friends.

If you are interested in doing a devotional on marriage, I highly recommend this book. It has caused me to refocus my attention and actions on my husband in a very positive way. It is very encouraging and the prayers at the end of each chapter are beautiful. I’m so blessed to have a wonderful marriage with God in the center of it, but we could all use time to refocus on our marriage, daily.