10 Years! This week, Meg and I celebrate 10 years of marriage. Seems like only yesterday, the main application of any teaching I had was how this related to me finding a wife. Now, I’m happily married (still!) and have been blessed with 4 children. It’s been a crazy 10 years with plenty of ups and downs, good times and bad, but it’s been a blast.
Part of what makes the long term direction of marriage so difficult is due to selfishness. So much of life turns on what we want as individuals. God’s graciously wired marriage to be such a thing that selfishness will be exposed rather quickly. Want to veg in front of a TV for long hours? You’ll probably hear about it from your wife. Want to burn every weekend doing what you alone want to do? Gradually distance can be created in your relationship with your spouse. Be on guard against selfishness — it’s actively working to undo what God’s done.
After all, what most of us remember about our wedding days is being so confident that God is the one who’s the great Matchmaker. He’s the one who’s brought us to that spouse. He’s the one who worked this out. And, because this is something God has done, we shouldn’t work to separate it. Yet, it can be so easy to do that. It can be so easy to turn inward and do what I want at the expense of what God wants for me.
So, this week, I, for one, am praising God that He’s continually working in me to help me die to myself. And, one principle way He’s working to do this is through marriage. Meg is a divine tool from a loving God to shape me into His image. It’s because this is true that marriage is a good thing. I’m blessed to continue riding these waves.