If marriage was easy, it wouldn't require a commitment...
If marriage was easy, it wouldn't require a commitment. We don't have commit to the easy things in life. No one says, "I am going to commit to eating, especially sugar." But we commit to losing weight because that takes dedication. No one says, "I'm going to commit to not working out." But we commit to getting in shape because that takes discipline. No one says, "I am going to commit to spend more money." But we commit to a budget because self denial is tough. The difficult things in life require more out of us than we'd naturally like to give, and those are things to which we commit.
Marriage looks easy in the movies. Hollywood has done a fabulous job of romanticizing marriage, and ironically enough, we buy it. You'd think that, at some point, statistics would kick in and we'd understand that marriage must not be as depicted on the big screen since over 50% of marriages end in divorce. But we love the idea of love. The idea of being hopelessly romanticized and constantly swept off of our feet. We think that marriage itself is the cure, is the very thing we need to find our self worth, our fulfillment. But the truth is, if Hollywood really showed us what a successful marriage looks like, how much work and effort and selflessness is required to make it happen, no one would ever get married.
See, here's the thing. Marriage itself, the actual institution, is not fun. People are fun. And if people want to have a fun marriage, they have to make it fun. Marriage, while a romantic notion, is, itself, not romantic. People must be intentional to create romance within their marriage if that's what they so desire. Marriage, alone, cannot make you happy. But people can bring about happiness that they, then, must choose to apply to their marriage. You see where I am going with this. Marriage is what you make of it. And, like all things in life, you get out of it what you put into it.
Because marriage was not made to complete you. Marriage, which was created as a good thing, was ordained by God because "it is not good for man to be alone." (Genesis 2:18) The solution was to give man a helper, a helpmate. In the words of the Lord, one "who is just right for him." Someone to walk along side him throughout life. Someone to commit to him. Notice the Lord didn't give her a task list to complete so that they'd have a good marriage. He simply called her a helper.
But it takes both. It takes two. Two that give, and two that receive. That's the equation. That's the key to success. That's how it was set up from the start. And if two make the most of it, if two put good things in, then two will reap a harvest of good. It takes two to make a marriage succeed. Two hard workers, that is.
We've almost made it to the two year mark. Two (almost) years of good times, of work, of big strides and intentional effort that I know will not be wasted. Two (almost) years of promising that no matter what may come, how selfish we may feel, or how much might be required of us, we will not stop working. We will not stop helping. Helping one another be a better person, a better spouse, a better child of God. Because we promised Him. We promised one another. We committed ourselves to Him and we committed to each other. No because it's easy but because it's worth it.
Marriage isn't easy. No one ever said it was. But marriage is worth it... when you make it that way.
"Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed." - Genesis 1:22-23
Marriage looks easy in the movies. Hollywood has done a fabulous job of romanticizing marriage, and ironically enough, we buy it. You'd think that, at some point, statistics would kick in and we'd understand that marriage must not be as depicted on the big screen since over 50% of marriages end in divorce. But we love the idea of love. The idea of being hopelessly romanticized and constantly swept off of our feet. We think that marriage itself is the cure, is the very thing we need to find our self worth, our fulfillment. But the truth is, if Hollywood really showed us what a successful marriage looks like, how much work and effort and selflessness is required to make it happen, no one would ever get married.
See, here's the thing. Marriage itself, the actual institution, is not fun. People are fun. And if people want to have a fun marriage, they have to make it fun. Marriage, while a romantic notion, is, itself, not romantic. People must be intentional to create romance within their marriage if that's what they so desire. Marriage, alone, cannot make you happy. But people can bring about happiness that they, then, must choose to apply to their marriage. You see where I am going with this. Marriage is what you make of it. And, like all things in life, you get out of it what you put into it.
Because marriage was not made to complete you. Marriage, which was created as a good thing, was ordained by God because "it is not good for man to be alone." (Genesis 2:18) The solution was to give man a helper, a helpmate. In the words of the Lord, one "who is just right for him." Someone to walk along side him throughout life. Someone to commit to him. Notice the Lord didn't give her a task list to complete so that they'd have a good marriage. He simply called her a helper.
But it takes both. It takes two. Two that give, and two that receive. That's the equation. That's the key to success. That's how it was set up from the start. And if two make the most of it, if two put good things in, then two will reap a harvest of good. It takes two to make a marriage succeed. Two hard workers, that is.
We've almost made it to the two year mark. Two (almost) years of good times, of work, of big strides and intentional effort that I know will not be wasted. Two (almost) years of promising that no matter what may come, how selfish we may feel, or how much might be required of us, we will not stop working. We will not stop helping. Helping one another be a better person, a better spouse, a better child of God. Because we promised Him. We promised one another. We committed ourselves to Him and we committed to each other. No because it's easy but because it's worth it.
Marriage isn't easy. No one ever said it was. But marriage is worth it... when you make it that way.
"Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed." - Genesis 1:22-23
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