I guess I should start this blog off by saying that I married my wife seven months ago and it was the most amazing time in my life and I couldn’t have asked to spend the rest of my life with someone that’s as suited to me as my wife.
So, now I’ve got some extra points from my wife, let me share a little about some of my experiences concerning married life and the importance of solid examples and role models in our lives. I’m sure there’ll be some people reading this who will leave comments like “You’ve only been married for sevent months, your in a honeymoon phase, wait until it gets difficult”. If that’s you, I want you to know that any reference to marriage etc is from my experience or from the bible and also this technically isn’t a blog about marriage but the lack of strong marriage examples in our lives.
Firstly, I need to say that my parents divorced when I was very young so as a result of the divorce I know what it’s like to feel unwanted, hurt and even feel its all my fault. More and more in our society we hear of many families being split up and as a result I believe it’s having a huge effect on the younger generation and their image and concept of marriage,which in turn is having a knock on effect on their preconception of sexuality.
I would suggest that our society actually does a very good job at preparing us for divorce. Let me explain that statement a little. Many young people move in with each other and put their toothbrush in the bathroom, once things get difficult we pick up our toothbrushes and find someone else. I would suggest this is a message that has been demonstrated to the younger generation and I want to suggest that it’s not what God has called us to.
So, God’s called us to something different. Something that changes and shakes this earth and yes that means staying with our spouses through thick and thin. I’m wanting to be 100% straight up and honest with you, when you get married you will have some issues. It’s not like what we see in the movies, but please don’t be discouraged. Embrace it. I’m a firm believer that when ever we go through a difficult time no matter if it’s in marriage, relationship or just life in general, I believe God uses that time as an opportunity to shape us into the the person He’s calling us to be and in turn draws us closer to Him if you’ll let Him.
My wife and I haven’t had it easy, we’ve had to learn things about ourselves and also unlearn stuff about us but by putting Jesus at the center of our marriage, we can’t fail (just a heads up, putting Jesus at the center of our lives doesn’t mean running 100% into your ministry but you need to be aware that your ministry is your family, and that we all have a responsibility to grow together). We’ve only been able to learn this by surrounding ourselves with people who’ve been through it and can help us grow.
Marriage and relationship is nothing like we see on tv shows like Skins, Inbetweeners or MTV. Marriage and relationship is about loving your spouse in the great times, embracing the difficult times, letting God shape the both of you and constantly serving each other. My prayer is that we start to see a movement in the younger generation, which turns to Jesus in the difficult times even when it seems easier to pick up your toothbrush and run. May you find some positive examples of marriage in your life and allow God to teach you more about having Godly relationships and marriages.