Blessings of love to you, precious saints here with me!!! I am sooo thankful our Father has made us Kingdom family together and that we can work together to bring heaven to earth to bless our Father, bless each other and bless others. As I continue to share some generalized areas of ministry that each of us individually will typically step in and out of in the course of our life, today I am sharing thoughts for couples as taken from our Father’s Word. Diving right in – wooohooo, here we go and it is my heart that you will find our Father’s heart of love and light for your own heart as He speaks personally to you. It is with a heart that longs for all to be blessed that I share these things:
Wives:
If you have a husband, God desires for you to be his helper, to assist and aid him (Genesis 2:18-25), to partner with him (1 Peter 3:7), to be a faithful companion (Exodus 20:14), to encourage him and build him up as a man (Proverbs 14:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:11), to meet his sexual needs and please him (1 Corinthians 7), to respect him and put forward his opinions as is fitting to the Lord (Colossians 3:18).
Husbands:
If you have a wife, God desires for you to love her as your own body, as yourself (Ephesians 5:33), be considerate of her and her opinions (1 Peter 3:7, Ephesians 5:21), encourage her and build her up as a woman ((1 Thessalonians 5:11), not being harsh with her (Colossians 3:19), loving her as Christ loves the church – giving himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25), treating her with respect (1 Peter 3:7), protecting her by your stronger physical abilities (1 Peter 3:7), meeting her sexual needs (1 Corinthians 7), being faithful to her (Exodus 20:14) so that nothing hinders your prayers (1 Peter 3:7).
God calls us all to consider the opinions of all people and to not seek our own good, but the good of others, but this does not mean to put them above God or become a participant in sin (Ephesians 5:21, 1 Corinthians 10:24 & 33, Proverbs 14:16a, Exodus 20:3).
We are also called to show proper respect to everyone (1 Peter 2:17). Respect is defined as “to consider deserving of high or special regard”. It is important to remember also, that if we desire the respect of others, we need to seek to be respectable – not making it difficult for people to respect us (1 Timothy 3:8, 11; 1 Thessalonians 5:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:12, Proverbs 11:16, Titus 2:2).
It is important to not take spouses for granted. Be thankful for your spouse (Colossians 3:15). If you find yourself focusing on negative thoughts about your spouse, take your thoughts captive to Christ and focus on “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). An exercise that is helpful in doing this is to go through the alphabet and for each letter, state a word that begins with that letter that represents a true good quality about your spouse (for example: A – She adores me and my children, B – He is bold, C – He is courageous, etc… by the time you get to Z, you have 26 good reasons to admire your spouse. Have you ever considered that there are many lonely people in the world who would perhaps love to have your spouse? I see the sadness of lonely people all the time. Does any stranger walking down the street treat your spouse better than you do? Do you strive to be the “special someone” in your spouse’s life? Do you seek to minister to your spouse’s needs out of love even though they are not your needs? Do you realize that God loves your spouse as much as He loves you? Galatians 3:28 says in God’s eyes “There is neither male nor female.” He loves them both the same. God understands our spouses as unique individuals and He knows what will bless them, so ask Him to give you wisdom in how to bless your spouse.
Healthy marriages practice these things and seek to work as a team to “discern the best” (Philippians 1:10) and keep peace and harmony in their relationship (Proverbs 3:13-17). If differences are creating bitterness and resentment, marriage partners need to quickly (Ephesians 4:26-27) seek God’s wisdom through prayer (Psalm 119:25, James 1:5), the study of God’s Word and godly counsel (Proverbs 1:5, Proverbs 15:14 & 22, Proverbs 3:21) to resolve problems (Matthew 12:25) and restore peace (Hebrews 12:14).
Couples should also work together to manage their homes and children well (Proverbs 31:27, Titus 2:5, 1 Timothy 3:12). Ask God to show you the definition of “well”. Sometimes people can go to the extreme of “too perfect” and some are “too relaxed” in caring for their homes and children. We want to make it our aim to bring glory to God in the eyes of our neighbors and those who might enter into our homes. Consider also the feelings of your family about your home. What makes your home comfortable to them? What ministers to them and to others who are visiting? Is your family embarrassed about where and how they live? If so, ask your family why and work through it together as a family. It is good when your family loves to be home and they feel good about bringing home their friends instead of being out with friends where there are all sorts of temptations. When they are in your home, you know what they are doing and who they are with. This also gives you the opportunity to minister to them and show them the love of Christ.
![Family at Cross](https://writingsofsheila.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/family-at-cross.jpg?w=640)
While there is lots to ponder here, in it all, the Holy Spirit will guide you as an individual and move your heart in what is right as He promises:
“For it is God who works in us to will and to act according to His purpose.”
Philippians 2:13
![holy-spirit-in-you](https://writingsofsheila.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/holy-spirit-in-you.jpg?w=640)
It is also important to understand that our Father understands each situation and sees His people thru eyes of love and grace and is always with His to guide. I love it that we can always approach our Father’s throne of grace with confidence to find help in all of life!!!
Married and parents??? Blessings to you!!! Sooo proud of you for your perseverance in the heart of Jesus in the center of your relationships!!! I greatly admire that in you!!! 🙂 One of the ways our Father shows us His love is in giving us relationships in life!!! Here is a song about His amazing love for us all whether married or single as the bride of Christ of which we all are as His church!!! Marriage is a model of our relationship with Jesus!!! It’s all a divine beautiful love story for sure!!! One that just makes me smile!!! 🙂
![Dancing with Jesus](https://writingsofsheila.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/dancing-with-jesus.jpg?w=640)