February 20, 2025 • 20 mins
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You can read the blog articles for this month's series on Marriage here:
Part 1: You Can Have a Happy Marriage
Part 2: The Most Important Thing You Can Do For Your Marriage
Part 3: The Purpose of Marriage
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audrey (00:01):
Hello friends, welcome back to Grace From my Home.
My name is Audrey McCracken andI'm so glad to be back with you
again this week.
I hope that you're doing well.
If you've been following along,you'll know that we're in the
middle of a four-part series onmarriage and I hope that this
(00:22):
series is helpful andencouraging to you.
It's something that's very nearand dear to my heart and my
heart.
My desire is to help you, is tohelp you in your marriage and
in your walk with the Lord.
In honor of this series, I'veput together a free resource for
you.
It's called Seven PowerfulPrayers to Pray Over your
(00:44):
Husband and I'll put the link tothat in the show notes and I
just want to encourage you to goand download that and pray
these prayers for your husband.
I have found in many times in mylife when I prayed for my
husband, god did something in me.
Yes, he did something to myhusband and he did something in
our marriage.
But prayer did something to myhusband and he did something in
(01:05):
our marriage.
But prayer, a lot of times it'sfor us, because as we pray for
other people, god does a work inour heart.
As we're praying for ourhusband, god will help us to
love him with his love.
It's hard to pray for somebodyand stay mad at them.
It's hard to pray for somebodyand be offended at them.
You know, for long if we praysincerely, god does a work in us
(01:29):
, and so I want to encourage youto go get that free resource
Seven Powerful Prayers to PrayOver your Husband you can find
that in the show notes and enjoythat.
This week, I want to talk withyou about the most important
issue in marriage.
I want to talk with you aboutthe most important issue in
marriage, but before I start, Iwant to remind you, like I did
last week, that what I'm sharingwith you is the ideal.
(01:55):
This is how I believe Godintended marriage to work from
the beginning, but he alsocreated marriage in Eden, and in
Eden everything's perfect.
We don't live in Eden anymore.
We live in the fallen place, welive in a broken world, and so
(02:17):
sometimes marriage a lot oftimes marriage can be
complicated.
You know relationships.
We're dealing with other people.
We're dealing with other people.
We're dealing with hard issues.
It's hard, and a lot of peoplehave been burned by marriage by
someone they cared about deeply,and so I just put that out
there to say that what I'msharing with you.
If it does not fit where youare, if it's not helpful where
(02:42):
you find yourself, then that youknow that's fine, we can still
be friends, right.
But what I'm sharing with you,if you're looking for help in
your marriage, if you want tosee things in a new way, if you
need some hope, if you need someencouragement in your marriage,
then I hope that you will findthis useful.
Now I want to get into themessage today and I want to kind
(03:07):
of set up the stage.
We were created by God forrelationship.
We were the last thing hecreated in the garden and he
made us with an amazing abilityto love and to be loved and to
be in relationship.
(03:27):
And he made us to be inrelationship with himself and
with other people.
You know, god made Adam tofellowship with him, placed him
in a beautiful garden, came downin the cool of the day to spend
time with him, but he saw itwasn't good for man to be alone.
(03:48):
So he made him a partner and hemade Eve and he brought them
together and it says that they,the two, became one, that became
one flesh, and they knew eachother intimately.
It says they were naked and notashamed and they fellowshiped
together.
And that was the first marriageand it was right, and it was
(04:08):
good and it was godly and it wasperfect, until sin entered the
picture.
And, like I said last week,anything that sin touches, it
destroys, it kills.
And so when Adam disobeyed God,god had already told him if you
disobey, you will die.
Well, adam didn't die instantly, at least not in his body, but
(04:33):
in his spirit.
See, adam, god created Adam,created us with a body, with a
soul and with a spirit.
And so when Adam sinned, he didnot die immediately in his body
, but he did in his spirit.
See, your spirit is where youcommune with God.
And when Adam sinned, hiscommunion with God was broken
(04:59):
and he was no longer able tohave that close fellowship, that
relationship with God.
He was cut off from God, he wasremoved from Eden, and it
wasn't until Jesus came that manwas restored in fellowship with
God by the Spirit of God.
You know, when we're born again, we're born of the Spirit.
(05:21):
The Spirit of God comes and hedwells in us and we can have
that fellowship with God thatGod intended from the beginning.
Well, why do I mention all thisBecause each part of us has
needs.
God created us not to standalone but to have needs we have.
(05:42):
Our body has needs, our soulhas needs and our spirit has
needs.
You know that your body hasneeds, right?
I mean, you can't go so longwithout water and food and air.
You have needs.
You have needs for clothes, youhave needs for shelter.
Those are physical needs thatyour body has and those needs
(06:06):
have to be met in order for youto survive and to thrive.
Same thing with your soul.
Your soul has needs and so doesyour spirit, and your spirit's
need is for the Spirit of God.
Our spirits need God.
We cannot thrive spirituallywithout Him, god, we cannot
(06:30):
thrive spiritually without him.
We must spend time with him andthat is how our spirits are fed
.
Now, some of our needs we canmeet on our own.
You know, babies, they can'tmeet any of their needs.
But as a child matures andgrows, they start being able,
learning how to get their needsmet.
You know, I can cook a meal, mychildren they can make a hot
(06:52):
dog.
They might not can make a wholemeal, but they're not going to
starve if I'm not here.
They learn how to meet some oftheir physical needs.
So there are things that youknow we can do to meet our own
needs, but in the context ofmarriage, god puts a man and a
woman together and each of themhave needs and in a healthy
(07:12):
relationship, each person meetseach other's needs.
Now, you know, as I meet myhusband's needs and he meets my
needs, there's goodwill in therelationship.
You know there's love in therelationship, there's a trust
that you know this person caresabout me, this person's going to
meet my needs, and so God putsus together to meet each other's
(07:37):
needs.
But there are needs, like Isaid, there are spiritual needs
that my husband can't meetbecause he's not God.
And when it gets confusing iswhen we start to put people in
God's place or look to people,especially like to our husbands,
to meet needs that they cannotmeet, they are not designed to
(07:58):
meet, that they could never meet.
And I found this out early inmarriage that when I was not
growing closer to Jesus, when Iwas not fellowshipping with God,
when I wasn't growingspiritually, I found myself
looking to my husband to meetthe needs that only Jesus can
(08:22):
meet.
See, jesus is the only one whocan answer the important
questions in our life.
He is the only one that cansatisfy us on a deep level, on
the level of our spirit.
See, jesus tells me who I am.
He gives me my identity.
Jesus tells me why I'm here.
(08:44):
Jesus tells me why I'm here.
Jesus loves me with aneverlasting love.
Jesus died for me.
I am extremely important toJesus and he wants to be number
one in my life because heredeemed me, he created me, he
knows me, he loves me.
And so you know, even when Jesuswas here on earth, he told his
(09:06):
disciples in the Gospel of LukeJesus, when he was here on earth
, he told his disciples in Luke14, luke 14, starting in verse
26.
If any man come after me andnot hate his father, his mother,
his wife, his children, hisbrothers, his sisters, even his
own life, he cannot be mydisciple.
(09:28):
Now, jesus, he didn't mean hate, as in despise your family.
He wants us to love our family.
But what he was saying is incomparison to me, there can be
no close second.
I want priority.
I must be the main relationshipin your life, and so when we
(09:53):
put him as the main, as the mostimportant relationship in our
life, the other relationshipsfall into their proper
perspective.
But if I put someone in hisplace, everything is out of
whack, everything's out of shapeand there's confusion.
(10:14):
See, when I look to my husbandto validate me, when I look to
him for my identity, or when Iput on him an expectation of
making me feel worthy or makingme feel loved or, you know,
making me feel like I have worth, self-worth, then what happens
is I'm putting him in God'splace.
(10:34):
See, that's God's job.
God made me, he knows what I'mworth.
He gave me my worth.
He's the one who tells me who Iam, and you know.
And so when Jesus is first,then I have a confidence, I can
serve my husband and I can evengive him grace when he messes up
.
See, because I'm not drainingfrom him or I'm not sucking from
(10:58):
him the life that I'm supposedto be getting from God.
See, god has an endless supplyof life.
He has an endless supply oflove.
I cannot exhaust his resources.
And so when I go to him to getmy needs met, then I can meet my
husband's needs and I can allowhim to meet the needs that he's
able to meet, that he'squalified to meet.
(11:19):
So there's nothing wrong withwanting your husband to love you
.
He should love you.
The Bible tells him to love you.
You know that's a rightrelationship.
But when it gets messed up iswhen we try to make his love or
our husband's love replace or beas strong as God's love.
He can't love us with that kindof love because he's not God.
(11:42):
And so when we put that burdenon him to make me feel secure,
or when we put that expectationon him, on our husbands, to love
us in the way only God can loveus, then and that's not fair,
because he can't do that.
He's just a man, he's just aperson.
(12:03):
And so when we put God first,when we put Jesus first, then it
flows better.
See, when I go to Jesus and Ispend time with him and I spend
time in prayer, I spend time inworship, when I spend time in
the word, then Jesus feeds myspirit, he teaches me who I am,
(12:23):
he gives me strength, he sets myfeet on the rock, he heals me
and then I can be the wife thatmy husband needs.
And I'm not putting my unmetneeds on my husband and I'm not
asking him to meet the needsthat only God can meet.
(12:44):
See, when I first got married,god had done a big work in my
life.
He had done a lot in my heart.
He had healed me of many thingsand I was not the person I was
when I first met Jesus.
You know, when I got married,god had done a big work in my
heart, but there was still a lotleft to do and there was a part
(13:05):
of me that though I know hecouldn't there was a part of me
that just thought you know, welove each other so much that
this love is going to heal someof the areas in my life, and it
didn't.
There were still areas thatwere hurt, there were still
things that were not healed, andI was looking to my husband to
(13:28):
make those things right and itwasn't fair to him because he's
just a man.
And so the Lord started showingme bring these things to me,
I'm still your God.
Things to me.
I'm still your God, I'm stillyour source and I will heal you.
(13:49):
But don't get angry at yourhusband because he doesn't know
how.
He is not a healer.
God is my healer.
Michael is not.
Michael is just a man and hehas his own issues and his own
places where he needs to behealed.
See, it works both ways.
I can't heal Michael.
There's things I wish I coulddo for Michael, but I can't
because I'm just a woman.
You know.
I can love him, I can providethe needs I can meet, the needs
(14:10):
that God allows me to meet, butwhen it comes to spiritual
things, when it comes to thingsof the heart, I can pray for him
, but God has to do that work.
And so it also taught me inthis.
You know, when I'm learningthis.
It also taught me not to putunrealistic expectations on my
husband.
You know, when we get married,we have in our mind, in our
(14:33):
mind's eye, how it's going to be, what it's going to look like
and how we want things to be.
And it never looks that way.
And sometimes we haveexpectations of how we want our
husband to act, how we want himto treat us, the things we want
him to do without being proddedor asked.
(14:55):
We have in our mind the fairytale, and I love fairy tales and
I love love stories.
There's a reason why peoplelove love stories because
there's something in us thatthat greatly desires that kind
of love, and I think that's aGod given thing.
But think about it when we watchmovies, love stories, it's
(15:20):
usually leading up to the couplegetting together, right?
The fairy tale ends with andthey lived happily ever after.
And that's after, you know,they've struggled to get
together and now they'retogether.
Well, marriage is the afterpart and it's up to us if it's
(15:40):
going to be happily ever after.
See, we have very littleexamples of what true love, what
good marriage looks like,because all of our stories end
when they finally commit to eachother.
Well, what does that look like?
What does it look when theyfinally commit to each other?
(16:01):
It means that they get to seethe ugly parts, and the vows
that you make on your weddingday are the things that keep you
together when you start seeingthe ugly parts.
And so a love story.
There's a lot more to it thanwhat we are normally exposed to.
We get to write our own lovestory and we get to decide how
(16:24):
it ends.
So it's not easy, it's nevereasy, but it's worth it.
But when we put unrealisticexpectations on our husband, on
our marriage, then it sets us upfor failure.
Because if it's not realisticbut we've got our heart set on,
(16:44):
it's got to look this certainway or he's got to be this
certain way, then we're notgoing to be happy with reality.
I mean, we're just not going tobe happy, we're going to be
frustrated because it doesn'tlook like we think it should
look.
And so the question isn't youknow how do I want it to look?
But what is marriage supposedto look like?
You know, lord, how is thissupposed to work?
(17:06):
God uses marriage to change us.
He uses it to work in us tomake us more like Jesus.
And marriage is good.
It's God's idea.
He created it.
It forces us to mature.
It forces us to get real insome areas.
(17:27):
It causes us to let go of somethings that we've believed about
love, about commitment thataren't necessarily true.
And, you know, it teaches us alot about us, teaches us a lot
about God, definitely teaches usa lot about our spouse, and so
(17:49):
I hope today that this has beenhelpful.
I hope that something I've saidtoday has encouraged you or at
least helped you think aboutthings in a different way.
And, as always, if you have anyquestions or if you'd like to
reach out and connect, please doso.
I love getting fan mail fromyou guys.
I love getting emails andmessages on Facebook and
(18:11):
Instagram, so please reach outand let me know.
You're listening, and if thereare any topics that you'd like
me to talk about, I'd love toknow, because I'm always
struggling with you know, whatshould I speak on next?
You know what would be helpful,so let me know and I will.
I'll speak to that if I feelqualified, if I feel like that's
(18:31):
something I could actually addvalue by speaking about.
But God bless you.
Have a great week.
Talk to you soon.
Hello friends, welcome back to Grace From my Home.
My name is Audrey McCracken andI'm so glad to be back with you
again this week.
I hope that you're doing well.
If you've been following along,you'll know that we're in the
middle of a four-part series onmarriage and I hope that this
(00:22):
series is helpful andencouraging to you.
It's something that's very nearand dear to my heart and my
heart.
My desire is to help you, is tohelp you in your marriage and
in your walk with the Lord.
In honor of this series, I'veput together a free resource for
you.
It's called Seven PowerfulPrayers to Pray Over your
(00:44):
Husband and I'll put the link tothat in the show notes and I
just want to encourage you to goand download that and pray
these prayers for your husband.
I have found in many times in mylife when I prayed for my
husband, god did something in me.
Yes, he did something to myhusband and he did something in
our marriage.
But prayer did something to myhusband and he did something in
(01:05):
our marriage.
But prayer, a lot of times it'sfor us, because as we pray for
other people, god does a work inour heart.
As we're praying for ourhusband, god will help us to
love him with his love.
It's hard to pray for somebodyand stay mad at them.
It's hard to pray for somebodyand be offended at them.
You know, for long if we praysincerely, god does a work in us
(01:29):
, and so I want to encourage youto go get that free resource
Seven Powerful Prayers to PrayOver your Husband you can find
that in the show notes and enjoythat.
This week, I want to talk withyou about the most important
issue in marriage.
I want to talk with you aboutthe most important issue in
marriage, but before I start, Iwant to remind you, like I did
last week, that what I'm sharingwith you is the ideal.
(01:55):
This is how I believe Godintended marriage to work from
the beginning, but he alsocreated marriage in Eden, and in
Eden everything's perfect.
We don't live in Eden anymore.
We live in the fallen place, welive in a broken world, and so
(02:17):
sometimes marriage a lot oftimes marriage can be
complicated.
You know relationships.
We're dealing with other people.
We're dealing with other people.
We're dealing with hard issues.
It's hard, and a lot of peoplehave been burned by marriage by
someone they cared about deeply,and so I just put that out
there to say that what I'msharing with you.
If it does not fit where youare, if it's not helpful where
(02:42):
you find yourself, then that youknow that's fine, we can still
be friends, right.
But what I'm sharing with you,if you're looking for help in
your marriage, if you want tosee things in a new way, if you
need some hope, if you need someencouragement in your marriage,
then I hope that you will findthis useful.
Now I want to get into themessage today and I want to kind
(03:07):
of set up the stage.
We were created by God forrelationship.
We were the last thing hecreated in the garden and he
made us with an amazing abilityto love and to be loved and to
be in relationship.
(03:27):
And he made us to be inrelationship with himself and
with other people.
You know, god made Adam tofellowship with him, placed him
in a beautiful garden, came downin the cool of the day to spend
time with him, but he saw itwasn't good for man to be alone.
(03:48):
So he made him a partner and hemade Eve and he brought them
together and it says that they,the two, became one, that became
one flesh, and they knew eachother intimately.
It says they were naked and notashamed and they fellowshiped
together.
And that was the first marriageand it was right, and it was
(04:08):
good and it was godly and it wasperfect, until sin entered the
picture.
And, like I said last week,anything that sin touches, it
destroys, it kills.
And so when Adam disobeyed God,god had already told him if you
disobey, you will die.
Well, adam didn't die instantly, at least not in his body, but
(04:33):
in his spirit.
See, adam, god created Adam,created us with a body, with a
soul and with a spirit.
And so when Adam sinned, he didnot die immediately in his body
, but he did in his spirit.
See, your spirit is where youcommune with God.
And when Adam sinned, hiscommunion with God was broken
(04:59):
and he was no longer able tohave that close fellowship, that
relationship with God.
He was cut off from God, he wasremoved from Eden, and it
wasn't until Jesus came that manwas restored in fellowship with
God by the Spirit of God.
You know, when we're born again, we're born of the Spirit.
(05:21):
The Spirit of God comes and hedwells in us and we can have
that fellowship with God thatGod intended from the beginning.
Well, why do I mention all thisBecause each part of us has
needs.
God created us not to standalone but to have needs we have.
(05:42):
Our body has needs, our soulhas needs and our spirit has
needs.
You know that your body hasneeds, right?
I mean, you can't go so longwithout water and food and air.
You have needs.
You have needs for clothes, youhave needs for shelter.
Those are physical needs thatyour body has and those needs
(06:06):
have to be met in order for youto survive and to thrive.
Same thing with your soul.
Your soul has needs and so doesyour spirit, and your spirit's
need is for the Spirit of God.
Our spirits need God.
We cannot thrive spirituallywithout Him, god, we cannot
(06:30):
thrive spiritually without him.
We must spend time with him andthat is how our spirits are fed
.
Now, some of our needs we canmeet on our own.
You know, babies, they can'tmeet any of their needs.
But as a child matures andgrows, they start being able,
learning how to get their needsmet.
You know, I can cook a meal, mychildren they can make a hot
(06:52):
dog.
They might not can make a wholemeal, but they're not going to
starve if I'm not here.
They learn how to meet some oftheir physical needs.
So there are things that youknow we can do to meet our own
needs, but in the context ofmarriage, god puts a man and a
woman together and each of themhave needs and in a healthy
(07:12):
relationship, each person meetseach other's needs.
Now, you know, as I meet myhusband's needs and he meets my
needs, there's goodwill in therelationship.
You know there's love in therelationship, there's a trust
that you know this person caresabout me, this person's going to
meet my needs, and so God putsus together to meet each other's
(07:37):
needs.
But there are needs, like Isaid, there are spiritual needs
that my husband can't meetbecause he's not God.
And when it gets confusing iswhen we start to put people in
God's place or look to people,especially like to our husbands,
to meet needs that they cannotmeet, they are not designed to
(07:58):
meet, that they could never meet.
And I found this out early inmarriage that when I was not
growing closer to Jesus, when Iwas not fellowshipping with God,
when I wasn't growingspiritually, I found myself
looking to my husband to meetthe needs that only Jesus can
(08:22):
meet.
See, jesus is the only one whocan answer the important
questions in our life.
He is the only one that cansatisfy us on a deep level, on
the level of our spirit.
See, jesus tells me who I am.
He gives me my identity.
Jesus tells me why I'm here.
(08:44):
Jesus tells me why I'm here.
Jesus loves me with aneverlasting love.
Jesus died for me.
I am extremely important toJesus and he wants to be number
one in my life because heredeemed me, he created me, he
knows me, he loves me.
And so you know, even when Jesuswas here on earth, he told his
(09:06):
disciples in the Gospel of LukeJesus, when he was here on earth
, he told his disciples in Luke14, luke 14, starting in verse
26.
If any man come after me andnot hate his father, his mother,
his wife, his children, hisbrothers, his sisters, even his
own life, he cannot be mydisciple.
(09:28):
Now, jesus, he didn't mean hate, as in despise your family.
He wants us to love our family.
But what he was saying is incomparison to me, there can be
no close second.
I want priority.
I must be the main relationshipin your life, and so when we
(09:53):
put him as the main, as the mostimportant relationship in our
life, the other relationshipsfall into their proper
perspective.
But if I put someone in hisplace, everything is out of
whack, everything's out of shapeand there's confusion.
(10:14):
See, when I look to my husbandto validate me, when I look to
him for my identity, or when Iput on him an expectation of
making me feel worthy or makingme feel loved or, you know,
making me feel like I have worth, self-worth, then what happens
is I'm putting him in God'splace.
(10:34):
See, that's God's job.
God made me, he knows what I'mworth.
He gave me my worth.
He's the one who tells me who Iam, and you know.
And so when Jesus is first,then I have a confidence, I can
serve my husband and I can evengive him grace when he messes up
.
See, because I'm not drainingfrom him or I'm not sucking from
(10:58):
him the life that I'm supposedto be getting from God.
See, god has an endless supplyof life.
He has an endless supply oflove.
I cannot exhaust his resources.
And so when I go to him to getmy needs met, then I can meet my
husband's needs and I can allowhim to meet the needs that he's
able to meet, that he'squalified to meet.
(11:19):
So there's nothing wrong withwanting your husband to love you
.
He should love you.
The Bible tells him to love you.
You know that's a rightrelationship.
But when it gets messed up iswhen we try to make his love or
our husband's love replace or beas strong as God's love.
He can't love us with that kindof love because he's not God.
(11:42):
And so when we put that burdenon him to make me feel secure,
or when we put that expectationon him, on our husbands, to love
us in the way only God can loveus, then and that's not fair,
because he can't do that.
He's just a man, he's just aperson.
(12:03):
And so when we put God first,when we put Jesus first, then it
flows better.
See, when I go to Jesus and Ispend time with him and I spend
time in prayer, I spend time inworship, when I spend time in
the word, then Jesus feeds myspirit, he teaches me who I am,
(12:23):
he gives me strength, he sets myfeet on the rock, he heals me
and then I can be the wife thatmy husband needs.
And I'm not putting my unmetneeds on my husband and I'm not
asking him to meet the needsthat only God can meet.
(12:44):
See, when I first got married,god had done a big work in my
life.
He had done a lot in my heart.
He had healed me of many thingsand I was not the person I was
when I first met Jesus.
You know, when I got married,god had done a big work in my
heart, but there was still a lotleft to do and there was a part
(13:05):
of me that though I know hecouldn't there was a part of me
that just thought you know, welove each other so much that
this love is going to heal someof the areas in my life, and it
didn't.
There were still areas thatwere hurt, there were still
things that were not healed, andI was looking to my husband to
(13:28):
make those things right and itwasn't fair to him because he's
just a man.
And so the Lord started showingme bring these things to me,
I'm still your God.
Things to me.
I'm still your God, I'm stillyour source and I will heal you.
(13:49):
But don't get angry at yourhusband because he doesn't know
how.
He is not a healer.
God is my healer.
Michael is not.
Michael is just a man and hehas his own issues and his own
places where he needs to behealed.
See, it works both ways.
I can't heal Michael.
There's things I wish I coulddo for Michael, but I can't
because I'm just a woman.
You know.
I can love him, I can providethe needs I can meet, the needs
(14:10):
that God allows me to meet, butwhen it comes to spiritual
things, when it comes to thingsof the heart, I can pray for him
, but God has to do that work.
And so it also taught me inthis.
You know, when I'm learningthis.
It also taught me not to putunrealistic expectations on my
husband.
You know, when we get married,we have in our mind, in our
(14:33):
mind's eye, how it's going to be, what it's going to look like
and how we want things to be.
And it never looks that way.
And sometimes we haveexpectations of how we want our
husband to act, how we want himto treat us, the things we want
him to do without being proddedor asked.
(14:55):
We have in our mind the fairytale, and I love fairy tales and
I love love stories.
There's a reason why peoplelove love stories because
there's something in us thatthat greatly desires that kind
of love, and I think that's aGod given thing.
But think about it when we watchmovies, love stories, it's
(15:20):
usually leading up to the couplegetting together, right?
The fairy tale ends with andthey lived happily ever after.
And that's after, you know,they've struggled to get
together and now they'retogether.
Well, marriage is the afterpart and it's up to us if it's
(15:40):
going to be happily ever after.
See, we have very littleexamples of what true love, what
good marriage looks like,because all of our stories end
when they finally commit to eachother.
Well, what does that look like?
What does it look when theyfinally commit to each other?
(16:01):
It means that they get to seethe ugly parts, and the vows
that you make on your weddingday are the things that keep you
together when you start seeingthe ugly parts.
And so a love story.
There's a lot more to it thanwhat we are normally exposed to.
We get to write our own lovestory and we get to decide how
(16:24):
it ends.
So it's not easy, it's nevereasy, but it's worth it.
But when we put unrealisticexpectations on our husband, on
our marriage, then it sets us upfor failure.
Because if it's not realisticbut we've got our heart set on,
(16:44):
it's got to look this certainway or he's got to be this
certain way, then we're notgoing to be happy with reality.
I mean, we're just not going tobe happy, we're going to be
frustrated because it doesn'tlook like we think it should
look.
And so the question isn't youknow how do I want it to look?
But what is marriage supposedto look like?
You know, lord, how is thissupposed to work?
(17:06):
God uses marriage to change us.
He uses it to work in us tomake us more like Jesus.
And marriage is good.
It's God's idea.
He created it.
It forces us to mature.
It forces us to get real insome areas.
(17:27):
It causes us to let go of somethings that we've believed about
love, about commitment thataren't necessarily true.
And, you know, it teaches us alot about us, teaches us a lot
about God, definitely teaches usa lot about our spouse, and so
(17:49):
I hope today that this has beenhelpful.
I hope that something I've saidtoday has encouraged you or at
least helped you think aboutthings in a different way.
And, as always, if you have anyquestions or if you'd like to
reach out and connect, please doso.
I love getting fan mail fromyou guys.
I love getting emails andmessages on Facebook and
(18:11):
Instagram, so please reach outand let me know.
You're listening, and if thereare any topics that you'd like
me to talk about, I'd love toknow, because I'm always
struggling with you know, whatshould I speak on next?
You know what would be helpful,so let me know and I will.
I'll speak to that if I feelqualified, if I feel like that's
(18:31):
something I could actually addvalue by speaking about.
But God bless you.
Have a great week.
Talk to you soon.
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