Devotional - Marriage

Matthew 7:3-5

New International Version (NIV)

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

I love this scripture. It helps me to keep myself in check. How easy it is for us to make excuses for ourselves, putting blame on others. Especially in our marriage. We might say, "If my husband would just take the trash out like I asked..." or "He has been so grumpy, no wonder I don't want to be around him." God is calling us to look at ourselves. Not one of us is perfect! the Bible says to love one another like Christ loved the Church.  ("Love your wife as Christ loved the Church."(Ephesians 5:25)) Instead of focusing on what our husbands or wives are doing wrong why not focus on what we are doing wrong? No one is perfect and we all have things we need to improve on. How can we love our husband with every fiber of our beings? How can we show them every day that we love them more and more? How can we love them as Christ loved the Church? By loving them with all we have we are honoring God and honoring our husband or wife. Maybe leave a little note in his/her car. Maybe an extravagant gift. Maybe doing a chore that they would normally do. Maybe even just watching the kids for an evening so they can go out with friends. Little things like this make your partner feel loved and special and that makes for a healthy and beautiful relationship that is pleasing to God.

Do you have a plank that you need to remove from your eye? Have you been making excuses for your own behavior and placing the blame on someone else, maybe even your spouse? Now is the time to correct that behavior. 

Have a blessed day! 

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