The Quiet Marriage

Everybody wants to be seen, heard and remembered.

That often takes the form of making your voice heard or picture seen in the market place. Just look at the social networks out there and all the information given. The friend base that we have can subtly be seen as our fan club and the need to keep ourselves in front of that network. Our identity can be more in who knows me "out there" and remembers me than who I live with every day.

Yes, we all need friends and people to encourage us but we can get so caught up in maintaining those relationships that we ignore the ones right in front of us. Just ask my wife! I love people and thrive on personal interaction. This can too easily make her feel that our relationship is not enough. There is something unique and God-ordained about the marriage relationship that should be different from all the rest. It can't simply be one of many wonderful connections in my network but must be a special connection that I don't have with anyone else.

The quiet marriage is the restful marriage. It's a place where I don't need to showcase or network myself or have my voice heard. It's a place where I can rest in the love of my spouse and give that same restful love in return. Ideally, because we know each other so well and know the Lord I can assume a love that is constant, forgiving and ever present. In the purist sense it is a place that I can't wait to come home to. A quiet refuge where less is more.

That kind of marriage can only come out of our marriage to Christ. His uniqueness in our lives will bring a unique love to our union with our spouse. A love that is "...patient and kind...does not envy or boast...is not arrogant or rude...does not insist on its own way....is not irritable or resentful...bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." I Corinthians 13

Yes it takes hard work but for all the right reasons. Your marriage is not just another social arena but it is to be the place where the essence of the gospel is to be worked out and seen. May your quiet marriage be a place where the voice of Jesus is heard and the love of God seen.