GPS to a Joyful Marriage

I drove to Atlanta last week for a speaking engagement.  I do not like driving on Interstates, but the back roads would have added at least an hour to my trip, and I just wanted to get there.  I dislike Interstates because I become a different person behind the wheel.  I start out with every intention of going the speed limit and staying in the far right lane.  That way I can relax and have a peaceful drive.  And then I have to pass someone. That’s when my alter ego takes over.  Suddenly, passing only one car is not enough.  Driving becomes a competition, and I have to get ahead of everyone.  I become Speed Racer.  I push my speed to the limit as I weave in and out of the passing lanes to get in front.  There is no relaxing when I drive this way. As I fought through traffic in Atlanta, I realized how tense I felt.  It reminded me of my life, a number of years ago, when I was always on the go, staying busy every moment and r...

I believe “Satan’s Convention” (from previous blog) rings true in the fact that Satan is doing all he can to keep us from God, while destroying families in the process. Our lives have become so busy that we have little time to nourish the relationships with the people we love the most, much less establish a closeness to God. Our busyness to outside activity quickly upsets the order of our priorities. “Satan’s Convention” was written before the advent of the internet. How much easier yet more complicated our lives have become since this discovery. While supplying us with endless entertainment and vast knowledge, it has also become the root of much evil and devastation. Computers have monopolized the lives of an alarming amount of people and can be characterized as a true addiction when overused. There are many who spend hours every evening “surfing” the Internet, jeopardizing quality family time. Video game obsession also threatens the health of a family. My Microsoft dictiona...

We live in a society that keeps us busy. Our children have activities every evening, we have meetings three times a week, we grab food from fast food restaurants four times a week, and we volunteer for church or school activities two to five days of the week. While these may be all viable activities, if they take away from family time and couple time, it’s too much. All this outside social activity tends to rise to the top of our priority list. No wonder families are frazzled and fragmented. Below is an interesting story I found a number of years ago. Do you think the devil has been successful? By the way, this was written before the invention of the Internet. SATAN’S CONVENTION Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, “We can’t keep the Christians from going to church. We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t even keep them from conservative...

Putting our spouse second on the list of priorities, right under God, is not always as easy as it looks on paper. It seems effortless as a newlywed caught up in the passion of romance. As time goes by and life throws us curve balls, it becomes more difficult, and other things get in the way. With the unclear roles of family in our society, healthy priorities easily fall to the wayside. “The squeaky wheel gets the oil” or “the smoking gun” gets the attention. That seems to be the agenda for choosing priorities. Jobs and careers sometimes become “gods” to people. They may be an escape from a troubled marriage or an obsession fueled by worldly ideas of success. Most wives, at one time in their marriage, feel their husband’s job is more important to him than they are. Many wives now enjoy successful careers that often get in the way of their family time. The husband feels like less of a priority, especially if they have children. There is not much “couple” time when both spou...

We serve a mighty God who desires to be first in our lives. When we are obedient to His will and put Him above all else, we will experience success and have a blessed life. There will still be hardships, but they will be surrounded by peace that passes all understanding. Putting God first in your life is the foundation of a successful marriage. Exodus 20:3-5 say, “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” Matthew 22:37,38 - “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” When you first marry and experience that overwhelming love like you’d never known before, it’s difficult to imagine loving God more than your spouse. I remember trying to grasp the concept and couldn’t g...