The Ministry of MarriageSample

WHAT ARE OUR LIABILITIES?

In business, a liability is often referred to as money owed, a debt or any type of financial obligation. However, in marriage, a liability is dead weight, extra baggage or anything that is holding you back from reaching your full God-given potential as husband and wife. Whether you want to admit it or not, every marriage has something or maybe even someone who is a liability and is stopping you from achieving success in your marriage and relationship. You can come from an affluent lineage of wealth and resources or you can be from the ghettos of the inner-city but one thing is for certain, we all have liabilities when it comes to marriage. I don’t care how many college degrees you have or if your highest level of education is the third grade, every marriage has liabilities and the longer it takes for you to discover or unveil them, the longer it will take for your marriage to reach its full potential.

Liabilities in marriage take many different forms. It may show up as poor communication when you both face conflict. The husband may shut down and it causes anger in the wife, while the wife may yell during conflict and it provokes anger in the husband. This is one of many examples of a liability in marriage. Another instance could be a spending habit that is getting out of control. Although they may be small online purchases, after some time those small purchases add up. And even though your spouse doesn’t say anything about it to prevent confrontation, inside they are resentful and are becoming a ticking time bomb on the brink of exploding. Liabilities can also come in the form of outsiders such as unhealthy secret friendships that you create on the job or elsewhere. You never introduce them to your spouse and your conversations and interactions are questionable and sometimes inappropriate. That’s a definite liability.

Hebrews 12:1, says “…let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” I don’t know if you’ve ever run in a race before but I can assure you, it is much easier to run faster with less weight on you than it is to run with a backpack, heavy shoes or with something that slows you down. It’s the same way with being married. You will be less likely to go far when you have a big huge burden from your past or some secret sin holding you back from being the husband or wife God called you to be to your spouse. And as hard as it may be to deal with, it is imperative that you take the leap of faith to give it to God and lay it at His feet. He is the only one who can give you freedom from it and heal you from the pain it has caused. Otherwise, if you continue to ignore it and refuse to address it, it's only a matter of time before it comes crashing down and destroys everything you worked so hard to maintain. Liabilities are never good in any sense. And no matter how much you dress it up or try to make light of it, there will always be a deficit in your love toward one another until you can be mature enough to, first of all, admit you have things that need to be dealt with. Confess them to one another; have a heart of repentance and watch what God can do with two people who are truly naked and unashamed.

Prayer: Lord, we confess our faults and our secrets to You. Give us the courage and boldness to resist the temptation of keeping secrets from our spouse. Give us grace to be patient with one another and forgive each other when we have wronged one another just like You forgive us. We are not perfect but Your strength is made perfect in our weakness. Help us to lay aside every weight or liability that will stop us from reaching our full potential in You. We are so grateful for Jesus paying the penalty for our sins on the cross and we surrender our will to Your will so that we may be a reflection of Your glory in the earth. We love You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.