Saturday, March 24, 2012

Marriage Is Hard Work

Tonight, I feel almost compelled to write about marriage.  Being married just shy of two years, I hardly feel qualified to offer any insight into it at all.  But I'm going to anyway. 


*Smiles*


So, here goes...


Being married is hard work, folks.  Yep, that starry-eyed, mushy, married-life-is-the-best-thing-ever feeling...it's just not there every day.  Life happens, and those "just starting out" feelings fade.


Before we go on, let me insert here that I am madly in love with my husband.  God has blessed me so much by putting us together and I can not imagine my life without him.  


Do I love him more every day?  Most definitely.  


Do I feel absolutely giddy every day?  Nope.


Marriage takes work.  You have to adapt, grow, and mature as you go along.  You have to pray, trust and believe.  And you have to make a conscious effort to do this every.single.day.


Building a Godly marriage is not easy.  It takes commitment.  And grace.  A whole lot of grace.


It takes submission to your husband.  This is sometimes a hard one for me, as I am sure it is for some of you ladies.  But the Bible tells us to submit to our husbands.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. (Ephesians 5:22-23)
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. (Ephesians 5:25)
Wow...that kind of love sure makes it much easier to be submissive.  Praise the Lord for a husband who loves me as close as he can to the way that Christ loves the church.


Isn't it wonderful, the way that God designed marriage?  Each spouse gives to the other what the one lacks.  In this way, they complete each other and the two become united as one.
...For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh (Matthew 19:5)
God's design for marriage is perfect.  However, we have a sinful nature.  And sin separates us from God's perfect plan.  Because of this, being married takes a daily determination to give of yourself for the good of your husband.


God created man and woman for each other.  Marriage was planned for the good of man.
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:18)

It's hard work.


It's a day-to-day intentional effort to be the wife that your husband deserves, to put his needs above your own, and to honor God in your marriage.


But it's rewarding.  A happy marriage is a true blessing.  And I am blessed.
Kristy Ketterman Photography
Thanks for listening, friends.  Much love to you all!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well put wendy

LeAnna said...

First off, LOVE the pics, all of them. Y'all are too cute.
Secondly, YES AND AMEN. I like what you said about Godly marriage taking effort. You know, submission and meekness is the hardest for me. Time and time again I'm reminded that when I'm NOT loving with respect, or submission, I am really not trusting God. It's what it boils down to, anyway. When my trust isn't in Christ, and what HE is doing in our lives, I feel the need to hold the reins. Instead of letting go, and sincerely praying that God would speak to my husband and guide him. It's not my job to have my "faith feelers" on high alert, constantly scanning for signals (ok, so that analogy was a far reacher, haha) to tell if my Hubby is doing what I want him to do. My job is to encourage, and pray, pray, pray. And trust God.

Great post!!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful, encouraging post! And pictures also!

meme-and-he said...

love the honesty in this post, I wish more people would know that before getting married! But like ANY relationship, it takes sacrifice, communication and hard work...but is SO rewarding.