SAFEGUARD #4
SERVING EACH OTHER

Learn to place the proper value and honor on your spouse. This idea of value and honor was imprinted on me when I served at a marriage conference hosted by Dr. Gary Smalley, where he told the men to practice valuing and honoring their spouses when they walked into the room. Just as if a famous person walked into the room, and you kind of gasped with excitement and wonder. So, he said next time your spouse walks in the room, say, “(gasp), I can’t believe I’m in the presence of greatness.”

The level of honor and value you place on someone will determine how you serve them. Don’t allow familiarity to move you from appreciating to taking your spouse for granted. Keep honoring your spouse in your words, heart, and actions, and watch how the emotions of love and thankfulness rise.

Focus on Serving Your Spouse First

In a world so focused on discarding relationships that no longer meet your needs, God’s word has a different formula for fulfillment in relationships. In Philippians 2:3-4 we see God’s word calling us to serve and care for others first. When we put the needs of others before our own, we’ll see a healthier flow in our marriages. The most successful way this works is when both the husband and the wife focus on putting the needs of their spouse before their own, both serving and focusing on fulfilling the needs of the other. But what if they don’t put your needs first? Stay faithful to your covenant of marriage and keep putting their needs first, even when they neglect your needs. That’s not the easy way or the world's way, but it is the God-honoring way and the way of true joy and love in relationships.