"Your spouse was a strategic choice made by a wise and loving God. Selected by him, for you, from the beginning of the world, your spouse is an essential part of God's rescue mission for your life."
The above quote is from When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey. In the book he highlights the challenges and the blessings of being married to another sinner - in Christ.
There is a lot to think about in his quote.
What if I really believed that God intentionally chose my spouse for me from the foundation of the world? This was His design for me that my spouse would bring out the issues of life in Jesus in a way that was perfectly suited for me. Your husband or wife is primarily an instrument from the hand of God to be used for your sanctification.
In a real sense your partner is there to protect you from yourself. The tendency is to see life from your own needs and perspectives and then determine how everyone else fits into that worldview. The fact that we get on each others nerves at times is not necessarily bad but could actually be part of God's plan to make us deal more directly with Him.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 12 tells followers of Christ, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment..." To have a true biblical view of ourselves we need only go to the cross. You and I had nothing worthy of God's love but because of our condition Jesus took that judgment on Himself. To reflect on the price paid for our sins on Calvary will produce "sober judgment" as to how we view others and especially our spouses.
Our marriages are the place where the cross is to be seen most visibly.
We can't really reflect the gospel if we are more concerned with ourselves than growing with our partner in Christ. Be thankful that God, who knows best, saw fit to bring that person in your life to help you fall more in love with Him than yourself!
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