GPS to a Joyful Marriage

In the beginning, God created Adam.  God created a paradise for Adam that he would take care of.  In Genesis 2:18, the Lord God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him." God formed all the animals of the ground and air and brought them to Adam to name.  No suitable helper for Adam was found among the animals.  God realized that Adam needed a helpmate of his own, and so he made woman. Helpmate means -  helpful companion: a helpful companion or partner, especially a spouse  Companion means - somebody to be with: somebody who accompanies or shares time with another Helpful implies (as in helpmate): willing to apply help or assistance.   That means putting your selfish desires aside to do something for someone else.  That is what a helpmate does, what God intended for spouses to do (male and female). Genesis 2 goes on to say, in verse 24, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they

Marriage - a union God intended for man and woman because He said it was not good for man to be alone.  Therefore, He created a suitable helpmate. How we have corrupted the original intention God had for marriage in the Bible.  We’ve come to believe that marriage should be this fairy-tale, problem-free, continuous romance with the person who makes our heart flutter.  (Hollywood has brainwashed us.) I think a major problem is that most of us try to pretend we have that kind of a marriage and resist sharing the true struggles and rewards with others.  I'm talking about Christians here.  Many non-Christians have no problem bad-mouthing their spouses to anyone who will listen.  This attitude ultimately leads to the death of a marriage.  (Okay, I have seen Christian couples behave like this, so we're not immune.) In a healthy marriage, a couple will seek Godly advice or help without condemning their spouse. I look at people who go to church.  We all put on our “church faces”

A few weeks ago, I wrote about hearing those precious words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” For the record, I highly admire those people who boldly walk into a mall or a crowded street and easily approach strangers to ask where they stand with Christ.  I merely stated in my article that I didn’t believe everyone had that gifting or calling.  Some of us reach out to unbelievers in different ways, preparing their hearts to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. I took an evangelist training course a number of years ago, and they actually took us to a mall to witness to people.  The head of my group was amazing.  He had great passion for the lost and didn’t hesitate to stop everyone that passed him.  A pastor I worked for in Australia was the same way.  That was his mission in life, to reach out to the lost.  He didn’t want to waste any time doing it, so he talked to everyone he met about Jesus. That same pastor recently sent me the following link.  It is a little lengthy, bu

Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a hard word stirs up anger.” If we could learn to always answer in gentleness, we would not become stirred up in anger that causes fighting and leads to problems.  How do we begin doing that if our response is frequently a hard word?  We act in love.  We act like we’re not angry.  We speak gently even though we don’t feel like it.  It will eventually become a habit. Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.”  KJV The Greek word for followers in this verse is mimetes , which means - to imitate someone or to mimic what you see someone else doing.  Mimetes was also used to describe actors on a stage and to represent the modeling of a parent, teacher, champion or hero.  When someone is know for there outstanding moral character, others were encouraged to emulate or copy that person. Paul is telling us in Ephesians to be followers of God, to act like him, to imitate him.  Like an actor, this is so

Some people find it difficult to act in love.  “But I don’t feel that way - it’s just not me,” or “I would be faking to act like that when I don’t feel it.”  To many, love is a selfish need that controls action, not an act that blesses others. Many of us aren’t taught how to truly love.  Raised in dysfunctional families, we desperately grasp for any tidbit of love not realizing it is meant to be given away.  Only when it is given away can we fully receive the benefits of true love.  Love is a selfless act. To most of us, acting in love is not natural.  A lot of times we don’t feel like it.  We need to train ourselves to watch for any moment to reach out in love, especially to our spouse and children. Let’s look at the word ‘act’.  When you think of the word ‘act’ regarding the theatre, it’s a verb that means ‘pretend’.  Sometimes you have to pretend that you feel a certain way. Oh, but that sounds so fake!  Shouldn’t we be ‘real’?  Think about it.  We pretend all the time.  For