The first paragraph sounds like a fulfilling marriage to me! Bet it is going to be built upon super alot of hard work of dying to self and giving of Christ-like love to one another. Too bad it doesnt just happen magically...
How can we as sinful, selfish people do as such? Only when in surrender to the moulding of our hearts and wills by you Holy Spirit. We confess we are so prone to sinning again you and one another Lord, help us, if we so choose to be married, to do so with a kingdom framework - that we would seek to put our spouse as more important than ourselves, that a giving of ourselves would be the hallmark of our married lives. Give us a greater glimpse and understanding of how you love your church so that we can do likewise! Amen.
From page 17-18 of The Sacred Search:
When husband and wife are committed in Christ, growing together in the Lord, supporting each other in their spiritual walks, raising children in the fear of the Lord, loving each other out of reverence for God, joy abounds and miracles happen. Selfish people become servants. Self-centered children grow up to become workers in God’s kingdom. Strangers become intimate friends. Daily life is filled with the drama of kingdom building. There are plenty of mistakes, lots of repenting, times of frustration, sickness, and even doubts. But in the end, God’s presence prevails, people are transformed, kingdom work is accomplished, and trials are overcome. If two people join themselves around this mission—if they make their marital choice based on the best person with whom they can accomplish this mission—they are far more likely to have a fulfilling and soul-building marriage.
On the other hand, I’ve witnessed how miserable people can make each other when they live for themselves. Though their initial sexual attraction might have been off the charts, it is usually only a matter of months until they are saying and doing awful, awful things to each other, so awful that they will call a pastor on the phone, someone they don’t even know, because they are so desperate to find another way to live. There was a time when they couldn’t live without each other; every second, they had to be together. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Now they can’t bear to live together. When they’re in the same room, or in the same car, or on the same telephone call, they can’t stop fighting.
It’s made me realize that the old cliché is all too true: a good marriage is the closest two people will ever come to heaven this side of eternity; a bad marriage is the closest two people in an affluent society will ever come to hell.
Such problems usually erupt from trying to build a life together without purpose, without mission, without something that not only establishes a connection but keeps you caring about each other for the next fifty to sixty years.
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