A godly marriage......How?

Loving Relationships Grow from Sacrifice

The world implies by all it teaches that happiness is in getting, not giving. The world's philosophy exhorts us to meet our marriage partners needs so they in turn will be agreeable to meeting our own. The world's way is to give in order to get. In contrast, a godly wisdom exhorts us to meet our marriage partners needs sacrificially, out of love and forget ourselves altogether.

When people give to get, they begin to believe they are entitled to a partner's attention. And when their supposed needs are not met, they become embittered and resentful and begin to assume withdrawing acts of love is a justifiable response. This only begins a snowball reactions of resentment and retaliation that drives a relationship into the icy water of alienation.

Does Jesus love us because we deserve to be loved? No...... Jesus loves us because He is loving, not because we deserve His love or merit it in any way.

* Delight to meet each others needs
* Don't let selfishness creep in.
* Self Sacrifice is the strength and foundation of true love.


~Next week....Selfless Love Cannot Be Destroyed

Who is the leader in your home?

Respecting a husband's need and responsibility to lead is a way to demonstrate love and obedience to God (Eph 5:22, Colossians 3:18, 1 Peter 3:7)

A woman's refusal to submit to her husband's leadership stems from her desire to please

herself rather than to please the Lord. Only as a woman commits herself to living to please the Lord will she be able to submit to a imperfect leadership of her husband and encourage him to become all he can be in Christ. Both love and submission are based on the love of God for us. Women need to understand that God rewards a woman who honors her husband's right to lead, whether her husband deserves the honor or not.

My Thoughts

This has not been an easy area in my life, but I am learning to be as I grow in the Lord. I think the neatest thing is when we see our husbands lead. A lot of the time I know I hindered my walk with the Lord by not submitting to my husband. The truth be told.......he feared my disapproval and thus held back from leading our home. Let me ask you friend......are you critical when your husband says "No" on an issue or something you want? Do you pout or get upset because he disagrees with you? Do you ask his opinion, or do you just go ahead and do what you feel is right? The lesson I am learning is that when I go against my husbands wishes, or try to manipulate a situation....ummm I reap the consequences of doing so. However when I encourage my husband to lead by submitting to the God given authority, the blessing are endless! I have never been disappointed when I have let my husband lead.....NEVER! God is so gracious and loving. He has the perfect plan, the one that brings true happiness.....we must just believe it and OBEY it!!!

When Dreams Become Demands

Demands are anything we believe we must have in order to be happy and fulfilled. To say we prefer a good husband or wife is healthy. God prefers that too. However, we don't have to have an ideal spouse to be happy and we don't have to have an ideal spouse to enjoy a happy marriage. Couples who enjoy a lifetime marriage of joyful companionship do so in spite of
faults and failures. They are people who choose to overlook faults rather then find them.

The BIBLE tells us...........

He that covereth a transgression seeketh love (prov 17:9)

Hatred stirreth up strife; but love covereth all sins (prov 10:12)

Dear sister, may we realize how precious our marriage is and stop bickering and tearing our husbands apart. Do we realize what we have?

Today:

List 5 things you love about your husband, and then write him a note today telling him what you love about him.

Words To Live By~

The person who trusts in human strength is compared to that of a dead tumble weed, blowing aimlessly, in the dry and barren desert. The person who trusts in God is compared to green and flourishing tree planted by a river that produces lush growth even in times of drought.

How about you? Are you trusting in God, or are you trusting in your own power?

God's Word is clear
Jeremiah 17:5
[5] Thus saith the LORD; Cursed [be] the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Verse 9
[9] The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Proverbs 28:26
[26] He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.


The human heart, that part of our being where we are who we really are, where we reason, where we form our beliefs and cherish our innermost desires....is prone to error and self-deception. Our hearts are still contaminated with the remnants of sin, no matter how disciplined or how transformed they are by the grace of God. The human heart is truly prone to wander, prone to believing what we prefer to believe, and prone to wanting our own way over God's. Our human heart is NOT to be trusted. Our own reasoning is not to be relied upon. Our emotions may very well deceive us.

~ Happily Married

Happily Married~ Respect

Study 1 Peter3:1; Proverbs 31:23

Mothers and wives do more to discourage the development of leadership qualities in men than any other person or factor.

No man acquires the confidence or ability to lead until he has someone who will cheerfully follow him. In fact, it isn't until a husband knows his wife will follow whether she agrees with him or not that he really does learn to take his leadership seriously. Graciously complying with requests your husband makes that you do not like actually provides the very best opportunities to demonstrate love and cultivate your husband's desire to lead well. A wise wife is careful to view submission from a husband's perspective and not her own.

Do we CHEERFULLY follow, or do we constantly disagree with our husbands? Do we GRACIOUSLY comply?

This gives us something to chew on today, it's a BIG OUCH for me. I was raised in a home where my step mom basically ran our home. It wasn't until I started learning about submission to my husband that my marriage changed (still a work in progress). Ladies we do have the power to CHANGE our marriages. But we must learn how to submit and follow our husbands before we will see change!

God rewards a woman who honors her husband's right to lead, whether her husband deserves the honor or not.