Love Who You Married
I believe the word "love" is thrown
around just a bit too nonchalantly.
Don't you think? People say they love
but do nothing to SHOW that love. Love
needs action to complete its purpose.
So when I say "love who you married" that means to provide of your self in
the marriage. That IS what love is! Let's take a look at 6 biblically based
principles that make up several areas
of loving. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does
not envy, it does not boast, it is not
proud. It is not rude, it is not self-
seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no records of wrongs. Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. It always protects, always
trusts, always hopes, always
preserves." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 1. Love Is Patient! Are you patient with
your spouse? Patience is a virtue. It is a
wonderful character trait to have and
practice patience. Are you utilizing all
of the potential that God has given
you? Are you patient, or are you easily irritated and annoyed? Do you listen to what your spouse has
to say? Are you considerate and
understanding of their needs and
desires? Being patient with your
spouse is one way you furnish love to
them. 2. Love Does Not Envy! Are you jealous
of who you married? Do you ever
envy or resent your spouse? Resentment runs rampant in
marriages today, and it is literally
tearing couples apart! You don't want
resentment to tear apart your
marriage, do you? So often I hear couples tell me how
resentful they are of their spouse for
one reason or another, but mostly
over petty little things that only need
to be discussed! Instead what are they
doing? Getting even! Have you talked to your spouse today? 3. Love Is Not Self-Seeking!! This is a
biggy! I talk quite a bit about
selfishness in my book, "Journey on
the Roads Less Traveled", and in many
of my articles. Why? I believe that it is a
major issue with couples even though it doesn't always seem apparent. I know how a selfish spouse can tear
the other down with them. I've been
there and done that one. I wasn't
taught how to give of myself, being
the spoiled little brat that I was
growing up. I was so into "myself", and so out in left field for my marriage,
that is, until I found the love of Jesus
for my life. We all have some selfish abilities that
we shine intensely on occasion. But
some of us are so selfish in marriage
that we don't KNOW how to give of
our self at all!! Many issues cause
selfish behavior, but mostly it is lack of the spiritual Christ intervening in our
psyche. What we allow into our mind
is what we will output to others,
mainly the person we married. This is why I stress in previous articles
that for a healthy and sound marriage
couples need to take care of them
selves FIRST, then and only then, can
they help the marriage. 4. Love Is Not Easily Angered! Do you
get angry with your spouse over
nothing! Do you ever think that you
might be behaving impatient and
intolerable with your spouse? What underlining problem might be
charging your anger? If you are quick
to anger, something deeper is
bothering you. Until you get to the
root of that, the anger will remain
within your inner psyche ready to abuse whoever gets in the way. If you
are abusing your spouse with your
angry feelings, leave the house if you
have to. It is wrong to berate your
spouse with bad feelings of anger,
and it hurts them terribly. "My dear brothers, take note of this:
Everyone should be quick to listen,
slow to speak and slow to become
angry, for man's anger does not bring
about the righteous life that God
desires." James 1:19-20 "A hot-tempered man stirs up
dissension, but a patient man, calms a
quarrel." Proverbs 15:18 6. Love Does Not Delight In Evil but
Rejoices In Truth! This has to be the
champion of all the aspects of love
because if we followed this one simple
principle we would not need any
other standards to tell us how to love, or what love is. This straightforward
verse speaks for itself, but for some of
you, maybe you are not sure what the
TRUTH is. The truth is what will set you free from
all of the above unpleasant aspects of
your character, such as anger,
resentment, envy, jealousy and strife.
After all, these are only feelings that
you carry around inside your head. You can either make them your life or
find a new way of life. If you want to be free of these feelings
you need to find the truth, right? You
need to KNOW the truth, right? Deeply put, the truth not only sets us
free from our weaknesses, but also
makes us new people within that
truth. Once we start applying THE truth
into our life is when we can easily stop
carrying around any bitter feelings, and negative attitudes that we may
have. Simply said, truth is God's words of
wisdom. We will be walking in truth
when we apply God's truth into our
life. Bottom line, the person who has
wisdom is loving towards their
spouse, faithful, honest, trustworthy,
committed, trusts in God, puts God
first, turns away from evil, knows right
from wrong, listens and learns, and applies wisdom into their life and
marriage. "Blessed is the man who finds
wisdom, the man who gains
understanding, for she is more
profitable than silver and yields better
returns than gold. She is more
precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left
hand are riches and honor. Her ways
are pleasant ways and all her paths
are peace. She is a tree of life to those
who embrace her; those who lay hold
of her will be blessed." Proverbs 3:13-18 And that is the truth! Do you have the
wisdom to love who you married? Angie Lewis offers spiritual
enlightenment tips for couples in
marriage, and is the author of new
release book JOURNEY ON THE ROADS
LESS TRAVELED. This unique book is about love, life,
marriage, addiction, temptation, and
understanding the power of spiritual
awareness for your marriage. In her book, Angie reveals her own
journey of overcoming addiction and
how her negative emotions took over
her life.
Leave a Comment