3 Characteristics of a Fully Connected Marriage

Here are three basic characteristics of a fully connected marriage. 

Characteristic #1 - Surrendered to God

Many marriages are disengaged, disappointed and discouraged. We stop living, we stop dreaming and we fully disconnect from God and each other. In the words of Dr. Phil "How's that working for you?"  

God isn’t an afterthought or random addition to the equation of life. He is life. He came to give us life. He promises a good, full life and there are plenty of scriptures to back this up. John 10:10 says that He has come that we may have an abundant, full, good life. 

Our part is to surrender our lives, our will and our ways so that He can have His way in us. Surrender isn’t a sign of weakness or retreat but a bold power move. Surrender is simply saying “God, I trust you because you’re better at being God than I am”. Today you are the only one that can make this decision to surrender and submit to you loving God.

Characteristic #2 - Submitted to Each Other

God's Word says in Ephesians 5:21 we are to submit one to another. Mutual submission is a marker of a healthy marriage. A mutual submission says "I'm willing to lay down my rights to be right" for the sake of your marriage and the heart of your spouse. Submission, fueled by surrender and motivated by love allows us to see things through the eyes of our spouse, fight the enemy and not each other, and allow our pride and ego to fall.

Why is it so hard to submit to each other? Submitting doesn’t mean forgetting but we are exercising our will and choosing unity over offenses, selfishness and pride. We start pointing fingers and making excuses but as soon as we take this step towards mutual submission and start intentionally investing, we are moving in the right direction. 

Characteristic #3 - Willing to Intentionally Invest in Their Relationship With God and Each Other

There’s no argument that marriage can be tough. There are tough days, weeks, months and seasons. While seasons and circumstances try and dictate the climate in our homes the greatest mood setter is an intentional pursuit of your spouse. This requires that you become a student of your spouse, learn to care about what they care about and work to have conversations that will align your agendas and connect your hearts. 

When we are surrendered to God, submitted to each other and willing to intentionally invest in our marriage love wins! We can experience a fully connected marriage when love is our driving force and unity is the end goal. 

Think It Over:

What is God’s definition of a fully connected marriage and what is one thing I can do today to help us move towards that?

Make a Move:

Sometime today, be intentional and tell your spouse one thing you appreciate about them.