Welcome to Blog number two for our Marriage Series.
Love, Honor, and Serve
Your Spouse
Whether you have been married for ten years, thirty years, or maybe you're a newlywed, the desire to love, honor, and serve your spouse is a choice that you make daily. When we take the focus off of these actions we allow the enemy a foot hold into our marriage. It opens the door for anger or hurtful words to cover the love we vowed to share. It desensitizes us to what honoring our spouse actually means. It allows us to serve our selfish desires over serving the one we promised to love, til death do us part.
We have to be intentional about choosing to love, honor, and serve one another. If we're not purposeful to the one we vowed before God with, then rest assured the enemy's job to destroy marriages (especially christian marriages) will only be that much easier. Life has a way of getting in the way sometimes, and it becomes easy to fool ourselves that we have fallen out of love or it's better to end our commitment now while we can still be friends....oh my heart grieves for the friends I have who have bought that lie.
I realize no one gets married to face divorce, however, we must be willing to fight for our marriage. We must be open to loving, serving, and honoring our spouse daily. If both spouses are truly on the same page and their hearts are bound in this commitment towards one another, there is no way your marriage will fail. Sure you may face hard times, temptations, and selfish desires, it's all in how you choose to face those situations. Marriage is not a one way street. Marriage is a gift and to be enjoyed as the gift that it is takes commitment and work from both spouses.
One tool that I highly recommend is knowing each others love language (CLICK HERE for The Five Love Languages. Once you understand how you each hear and feel love, you can build on that and strengthen your commitment to love, honor, and serve one another in your marriage.
Suggestions to love, honor, and serve your spouse:
Love
1. Speak your spouse's Love Language
2. Leave a "love" note (in their lunch, on the mirror, or in a drawer, etc)
3. Text 143 to your spouse (143 = I Love You)
Hatred starts fights, but love pulls a quilt over the bickering Proverbs 10:12
Honor
1. Be a man/woman of integrity (let your yes be yes and your no be no)
2. Compliment and thank your spouse
3. Encourage and support your spouse
But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin Hebrews 3:13
Serve
1. Do something unexpected for your spouse (refilling an empty glass, helping with yard work, order take out, or anything big or small that is unexpected and helpful)
2. Have a servant heart attitude (SMILE with your mouth and your heart)
3.Do something that speaks your spouses love language (actions speak louder than words)
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another Galatians 5:13
Let's continue to say, "I do", to our spouses and keep the HOPE of marriage alive!
