“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.”

Proverbs 18:22

When God created man, He made sure that he lacked nothing; not even the smallest detail was overlooked. God saw that there was a great vacuum in man’s heart, because there was no one like him to share life with. Therefore, with a lot of care and attention, He created a woman to be a helper in every area of man’s life. It was God who brought her to Adam, and He blessed them with physical intimacy. Part of the blessing was to multiply their descendants upon the face of the Earth. But because of sin, man rebelled against God, and problems began to develop within the family.

Some marriages start out with many golden dreams. However, as time passes, those dreams fade and vanish. In some cases, life becomes a heavy burden and the couple start to feel like they cannot do anything in the midst of their crises. Their greatest hopes become difficult to hold onto. The desire to be with their spouse, their hopes and dreams, and even other seemingly little things take second place. Nevertheless, God wants us to recover these dreams. We understand that some married people have been hurt by their spouse, therefore, they have closed their hearts. Here are four things we must avoid:

Do not damage your spouse’s self-image.
Each one of us has our own dignity. When our dignity is torn down, our lives are left open to destruction. This is why some people feel that their hearts have been broken into pieces. The Bible teaches that a woman is like a fragile vessel. She tends to be much more vulnerable than a man in her emotions. Therefore, there are things that a man does, which for him are simple issues, but for her, it can be something that harms her self-image. When a man raises his voice at her and speaks in a derogatory tone, the fragile vessel begins to break. When a man uses physical violence, the vessel is shattered. For that reason many women let go of their hopes, hopes and dreams because the things that they have experienced in their marriage have been negative. Thank God for Jesus Christ, who came to restore broken hearts.

Do not blame your spouse for your situation.
In marriages there is always the tendency put blame on the spouse for the negative things that happen in the marriage. Each person must take responsibility for their own actions. In a marriage you must admit it when you fail. You must have the courage to ask for forgiveness. My wife and I have made a covenant to never go to sleep without first dealing with the differences we might have had during the day. Solomon talked about the way of a just man. He said that it is like the light of dawn that shines ever brighter until the full light of day. (Proverbs 4:18)

Do not look down on your spouse.
The Apostle Paul teaches that husbands must love their wives as their own body, and that anyone who loves his wife loves himself, because no one abhors their own body, but sustain it and cares for it, as Christ does the Church. (Ephesians 5:28)

Do not ignore your spouse.
Although in marriage there may be things that you do not like about your spouse, don’t use the weapon of indifference. If you have to compromise on something, just go with it. This is not a sign of weakness but of maturity. Indifference can change the path of your destiny. Remember that anyone who passes over an offense is looking for friendship. Solomon said, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11).

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
The well-known Evangelist, Billy Graham was a tall young person, and very lean. He fell madly in love with a student of a Bible Institute in Florida. But the young lady rejected him. She felt that Billy did not have a brilliant future because he was from a humble family. Billy transferred to Wheaton College where he met Ruth Dell, a beautiful and very likeable daughter of a missionary in China. He was very much impressed when she said to him that each morning she spent two hours reading the Bible and praying. They began to go out, fell in love with each other and got married three months after graduation. Some years later when Billy Graham was already a famous evangelist, Ruth Dell, now Ruth Graham, found the lady from Florida. This happened after a meeting in Boston, where there were 1,500 people who accepted Jesus when Billy made the altar call. Ruth smiled at the lady from Florida and said to her, “I have given thanks to God for you many times for answering my prayers regarding a husband. Now, I want to give thanks to you for making it possible for Billy to be the answer to my prayer.” Actually, while praying when she was a student, Ruth said, “Not simply a husband, Lord, but a man with character, and a strong soul, fully dedicated to You.” She had asked God for a husband and He gave her more than she asked for. He gave her a spouse who became one of the greatest Evangelists of all time.

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“When the hand of the Lord rested upon me, He changed my life and gave His full blessing to my family.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Four.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

• Old Testament: Malachi 1-4; Job 42
• New Testament: John 21:15-25; Revelation 22