GPS to a Joyful Marriage

I remember very clearly, as a young adult, struggling with the dilemma of should I make decisions according to my heart or to my head.  I always questioned the best advice to follow, my emotions or my head knowledge.  I wasn’t following God at that point, but I possessed a strong sense of right and wrong.  I knew that God would have a plan for me if I chose to accept it, but I ignored Him at that time.  Looking back, I realized He never ignored me.  He was there all along skillfully guiding me without my awareness of His hand on my life. As a young adult working full-time in an insurance company, I dreamed of touring around the country performing music. I hated the confinement of an eight-to-five job that I despised doing. After the divorce of my parents and leaving college with only one year under my belt, I didn’t have a great deal of confidence in myself.  The desire to play music, though, overpowered any doubts I had about my abilities.   ...

Living a godly life does not mean we will be void of feelings and emotions.  How we deal with those feelings and emotions, though, can have a great impact on how well we follow Him. Particularly as women, we have to first realize our vulnerabilities when we are “under the influence” of our emotions, and figure out the root of the cause. This can be difficult because it’s not always easy to distinguish if our emotions are driven by hormones or circumstances.  We sometimes blame our circumstances when it’s only our hormones gone crazy. I’m amazed at how quickly my emotions can spiral downwards, especially when I’m hormonally challenged, just from a few words someone might speak to me that were not intended to offend me.  I’ve often had to take the time to look at what really caused my emotions to nosedive.  Usually, it is an insecurity within me, which has been exacerbated by my hormones, and I need to take it to the Lord. I think the bottom line here i...

In striving to “take our thoughts captive” (II Cor. 10:5), we are often hindered by our feelings and emotions. It is a battle we face when we choose to live according to the will of God.  We should not live by our feelings because they can lead us astray . Our feelings and emotions are tied into our human nature, which includes our natural ways of thinking, feeling and acting, all influenced by sin. Paul describes the power of our human nature well in Romans. Romans 7:15-25.  “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on d...

If we, especially as women, only listened to our feelings, we would be in and out of relationships, in and out of jobs, and disown our children one day, only to welcome them with reckless abandon the next.  Maybe this does not include ALL women, but most of them I’ve known would tend to agree with my perception.  We women are usually running on emotional roller coasters powered by our female hormones.  I KNOW that we try very hard to be children of God, led by His grace, and striving to live prayerfully ABOVE the worldly “pull” we deal with every day.  But let’s be honest here and face the facts – we are only human and we have these hormones that wreak havoc on our bodies and our minds. We are not 100% successful all the time in our holy walk. I would like to think that I spend a lot of time with God, attempt to live completely according to His will, and try my best to turn over every area of my life to Him that is not totally right with Him, yet, I STI...