Me: Thinking about a date?
Prodigal: Yes, I am.
Me: I was just reading about marriages and hopefully this will help.
This is from the book The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller
So only if you have the ministry of the Spirit in your life will you be fully furnished to face the challenges of marriage in general. And only if you are filled with the Spirit will you have all you need to perform the duty of serving your spouse in particular. In verses 22-24, Paul says, controversially, that wives should submit to their husbands. Immediately, however, he tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and “gave himself up for her” (25), which is, if anything, a stronger appeal to abandon self-interest than was given to the woman. As we shall see, each of these exhortations has a distinct shape–they are not identical tasks. And yet each partner is called to sacrifice for the other in far reaching ways. Whether we are husband or wife, we are no to live for ourselves but for the other. And that is the hardest yet single most important function of being a husband or wife in marriage.
So you are facing someone who is stubborn today. Well remember we love even during stubbornness. We love, even when there is no appreciation. That stubbornness is what made sure you also are together this day.
Proverbs 21:17
Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
