All You Ever Wanted To Know About Marriage

If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Phil 2:4-5

It was a hectic day and we were both wearing down. In the middle of preparing for a move in two weeks, and juggling carpet measuring, paint inspecting, and checking on a dog that was sick earlier, one of those moments that makes marriage great happened.

Bunny was about to take a load of clothes out of the dryer, and asked me to do it, because she was too hot. So I took the clothes out and placed them in the basket. I then began to take them into the bedroom. "I do them in the other bedroom" she said, so I headed in there. I began folding towels. She looked at my attempt and picked a towel up and said "I fold them like this."

"Right, but I fold them like this, always have."

She grinned and said, "Well, in the years we've been married, I have folded thousands of towels. You are up to... 8 or so. So since they fit in the closet better, let's do them this way."

We did.

We laughed. It wasn't because anything was especially funny.

It was because we're still in forever love.

One of the tougher passages for people outside the family of believers in Jesus, is the whole concept of mutual submission in marriage. The scripture isn't exactly written in a way that appeals to people in today's culture. But really, anyone whose purpose in life is to gratify themselves, and make sure they get what they want will have a problem with most of the New Testament.

Our Leader, Savior, King - God's Son - is Jesus. He came to serve. He could have had everyone laid out as His feet - instead He washed His closest follower's dirty feet. If you had to put a slogan to His work here on earth, a good start would be "Whatever It Takes". That takes a special kind of Christ-led heart. It means forgetting yourself, long enough to lend a hand.

Or fold a towel.

That's what servant-leaders, male or female do. And it goes a long way toward having a great marriage if you both are committed to following Jesus - loving Him first, loving each other second, loving yourself third.

Stay tuned though, as soon as I find something I've done for her thousands of times that she hasn't, I'll make sure she does that MY way. Don't wait up. :)

Let's get our hearts ready to lift God's glory high this weekend as we worship together.

Grace!

David

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