It’s All About Me

We normally consider “It’s all about me”, as a selfish approach to marital health. But I want to extract from this statement a very important marriage principle. It’s all about me, who I am, not about who my spouse isn’t.

A healthy marriage is one in which two responsible parties, husband and wife, take personal responsibility for their marital input. Assessment of a marriage needs to unfold from the inside out. My being transformed into the image of Christ is first priority, providing an accurate lens through which I may then view my spouse. 2 Cor. 3:18

Lighted Heart

God has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6 Bible knowledge, in and of itself, doesn’t necessarily change people. It’s the LIGHT of that knowledge that brings change. “You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin. But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear…”  Jas. 1:24-25 (TPT) It’s all about me – having an accurate perception of how God sees me. From here, I own the course corrections needful on my end of the marriage.

Prayerful Soaking

Ever increasing glory, a transformed heart, will come to the one who is gazing into the mirror of God’s Word. This kind of transformation comes by the renewing of the mind, cognitive focus growing into heart illumination. Prayerful soaking in the Word is what we need. Most marital issues would be greatly reduced in their complexity if husbands and wives took time to prayerfully immerse themselves in God’s Word.

Transformed & Interceding

Hebrews 1:3 speaks of Jesus. “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” I see a two-fold mandate in this verse. One is our calling to transformation; to be like Jesus, displaying the fruit of the Spirit. We all have a contribution to make, in radiating God’s glory. Two, is to join Him in His ministry of intercession. Jesus speaks the Father’s thoughts and actually brings God’s ideas into the world by speaking. Husbands and wives have a mandate to follow in Christ’s steps; to steward the helm of intercession. No one but me, can release my sphere of influence. Marriage are truly upheld in prayer.

Threshing Floor

The devil hates prayer for at least two reasons. One, we are changed in the process, and two, we change the atmosphere where our prayers land. The environment of prayer provides a threshing floor to harvest God’s words into the earth, bringing about his sovereign will. “True prayer moves in a circle. It begins in the heart of God, sweeps down into a human heart upon the earth, so intersecting the circle of the earth, which is the battlefield of prayer, and then it goes back again to its starting point, having accomplished its purpose on the downward swing.” (S.D.Gordon, Quiet Talks on Prayer)

Let’s offer our voices on earth to be a conduit for his voice in heaven to go full circle. No one else can take my place in this strategic marital role. It’s all about me.

Photo by Giacomo Berardi on Unsplash