Returning To Paradise
Even before the creation, God chose marriage as the incubator and crucible where a man and a woman, living in a “oneness-relationship” would learn to become more like Him. Even though Adam and Eve failed God’s plan, we as His adopted children can in many ways pick-up where they left off.
Your new birthright as God’s child gives you the duty and opportunity both to please God in your role as husband or wife and, at the same time, share in many of the joys and satisfactions that Adam and Eve walked away from. Just think, in your marriage you can, to an extent, return to “Paradise Lost.”
To help bring you both back into that Paradise in your marriage that God originally intended, here are a few points that we give to our students to help them get started on the path of loving their spouse in the same way as God loves them.
- Your goal in discussing issues with your spouse is to come up with a mutual agreement, not to get your own way.
- You are not the person to fix your spouse. That is God’s job!
- When difficulty comes, embrace it as an opportunity to change and realize the Holy Spirit is willing and desiring to come alongside you (as the Paraclete) to give you wisdom and encouragement.
- Forgiveness is the key to freedom. Unforgiveness puts you in a prison of your own making.
- Your spouse’s feelings are every bit as real as your thoughts and opinions.
- Taste your words before you speak them.
- Sacrificial loving is the ultimate goal for all Christians because sacrificial love is God’s kind of love.
- You and your spouse are different. God made you that way so together you could become one by learning to sacrificially love your spouse by fulfilling their unique emotional needs.
- When you pray with your spouse in daily “Couple’s Prayer,” you are telling both God and your spouse that you are serious about your role as spouse and your role as a child of God.
Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2, English Standard Version (ESV)
Consider reading The Fulfilled Marriage: The Three Doors which is divided into two parts. The first part of the book is designed to help you become a dedicated disciple of Christ in the context of your marriage. The second part helps you to be successful in developing a fulfilling marriage that will increase your love for each other, perpetuate romance, and lead you to all of the benefits that God has designed into His design for the marriage covenant.
Available at this link: https://fulfilledmarriage.com/books/
With blessings and love,
Ted and Esther
