5 Marriage Lies to Defeat With Biblical Truthናሙና

#2: You should treat them how they treat you.

“Well, he deserves it.” If I’ve heard this once, I’ve heard it 100 times. Our society has preached to us that our spouses should only get a reflection of what they give. This goes against everything Christ stood for during His time on earth.

The Word is clear that He came to serve not to be served. (Matthew 20:28) He washed feet; he knelt with sinners; he reached down into the sinking messes around him and offered hope, grace, and love. To refuse to extend grace and kindness to the person we pledged to do life alongside is a major reason we are seeing disconnect and divorce running rampant in our marriages.

Our role as a spouse isn’t to serve and please our husband or wife. The real truth is we are called to love. It’s all for Him, even in the way we respond to our spouse. As believers, we are called to live for an audience of One. As Romans 12:1 reminds us, our lives are a living offering of worship to pour out before our good Father God. Our role is also not to teach our spouses a lesson or give them a taste of their own medicine. 1 Peter 3 tells us that as members of God’s family, we are called to live differently, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” So regardless of our spouse’s actions toward us, we have the choice to walk in obedience to God’s way.

Challenge:

Take a look at your responses to your spouse lately. Do you give what you are given, or are you responding with grace, kindness, and love regardless?

Prayer:

Lord, you extend grace and pour out love so lavishly, but it feels hard to do that when we feel like we have been wronged. Help me to love as you love, forgive the way that you forgive, and create a healthy atmosphere in our marriage that doesn’t depend on my spouse’s actions.