The vows we make to each other at our weddings are promises to be loyal to each other.
We declare to each other and in front of our loved ones that we are. We are there for the good, the bad and the ugly.
We are each other for life! This is a beautiful and powerful pledge of commitment that we make to each other.
A marriage covenant that God wants to honor and remain faithful to as long as possible. Matthew 19:6 I say this. Therefore, man must not separate what God has joined together. ”
God wants the heartfelt optimism we declare at the beginning of our marriage to remain true over the course of the lives we spend with our partners.
God knows this is no easy task! Choosing to love the same person amidst years of new responsibilities, needs, interests, wishes, struggles, pains and joys requires more than we have in our power to give. will do.
We need a Jesus who can love each other well and faithfully. Let’s explore what God’s Word has to say about remaining faithful in marriage and practical ways to put this into practice in our daily lives.
Here are three scriptures about faithfulness.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance. There is no law against these.”
The Spirit of God living in us appears to live a life marked by the fruits of the Spirit. This is proof that we are followers of Jesus.
These are what make us stand out from the world around us. That evidence includes our faithfulness to our relationships, our promises, our faith, our God, and our marriage.
“No temptation, not common to man, has come upon you. God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your capacity, but with temptation, It also provides an escape route to the.”
You don’t have to be loyal in your own strength. God knows that we are tempted, that life is full of hardships, that the darkness is trying to tempt us with the lie of forbidden pleasures. God encourages us, but He reminds us to be faithful.
With God’s power at work in our lives, we can overcome common temptations in this world. Give me the strength I need to stay true to my promises.
“The faithful will receive many blessings, but those who are in a hurry to get rich will not go unpunished.”
Our faithfulness to live a righteous and devoted life will not go unnoticed by God. He promises that our efforts will be blessed.
God is pleased when we choose to be faithful in marriage.
How Can You Be Faithful to Your Spouse?
Staying loyal to your spouse requires more than not having an extramarital affair. It requires us to be present, involved, loving, committed, and willing to forgive over and over again.
What does it look like in practice? Here are some ideas.
1. Be honest with each other
Honesty brings security to your relationship.
A few years ago, my husband and I went to counseling together for about a year, and the first question the counselor asked was if we were honest with each other. He wanted to know if there was a major breakdown of trust in our past or present.
Thankfully we were able to answer “yes” to this question and the counselor confidently said we could get through the hard times. I was able to fix other broken parts of my marriage.
research It turns out that the biggest problems that have arisen for married couples are trust and betrayal.
Honesty ensures that we live in a truly shared reality. We must be open in our communication with each other, not only to avoid major betrayal, but also to avoid being blindsided by small ways that fail to share the truth with one another.
Not being clear about how much one of you enjoys a particular activity, or even hiding your concerns for the other, can feel like a betrayal if not shared openly.
2. Put each other first
This advice feels obvious, but let’s face it, life is not easy! When life is going your way, the easiest thing to put at the bottom of your priority list is your spouse. .
I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with friends lamenting how long it’s been since I’ve had a proper date night with my spouse.
work, children (especially children), You don’t want to bother others by asking if you can babysit, and general busyness as a reason for date night is suspended.
Allowing uninterrupted time with your spouse by the wayside is dangerous to your marriage.
This is what it looks like in my house. Her husband and I get along well, but in the weeks that followed, I didn’t have time to relax away from the kids. All of a sudden I start to doubt that he cares about me, I don’t take a “grown-up break” from parenting and other responsibilities, I feel extra stress, my husband feels like I’m sees his anger as dissatisfaction with him, and in the second or third week a small fire ignites a big argument.
Everyone needs affirmation, connection, kindness and love. The only way you can consistently give and receive these things in your marriage is to make loving each other a priority.
3. Be prepared and willing to forgive each other
Matthew 18:21-22 “Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how many times does my brother sin against me, and do I forgive him? Seven times?’ was told
Marriage is where your ability to apply this scripture in your life is tested.
Offering undeserved forgiveness is something we must be willing to offer our spouses daily…and I know from years of experience that it is not easy to extend!
It can be even harder for us to forgive each other not just for big messes, but for the little mistakes we make. It’s like forgiving your spouse when you forget.
When you start harboring a secret grudge against your spouse, the barriers to your marriage begin to rise. Today, not only am I frustrated by the fact that they forgot to help with the dishes, but for the past 15 years I’ve been angry every time they forgot to help clean up, so suddenly all the little things turned into big things. Become.
Washing the dishes can even be a reason to separate yourself emotionally from your spouse.
Say it out loud… I can’t be loyal to my spouse because he didn’t wash the dishes… crazy!
But let’s be honest, much of the struggle we feel in our marriages is about big problems, and how much of it is about small failures that are secretly recorded in our mental “complaints book” with our spouses. Huh? We have to forgive over and over again to stay true to the vows we made to our spouses when we began our journey together.
Marriage is a living thing. It needs to be cared for, watered, fed, nurtured, and protected from the elements of this world, and it only takes a short period of time for the decay to become apparent.
If we want to be faithful to each other, we must make daily choices to pour into our relationships. must be created.
Being faithful to each other is a daily task, but thankfully God promises to give us the strength we need to help our marriages flourish.
Photo credit: ©Unsplash/Jon Asato
