I Married a Sinner, and So Did He.

Apr 19, 2009 | Stories, The Good Word

So these thoughts might seem to be for an exclusive portion of the blogging audience, but if you ever think you might get married, or have a flatmate, or basically have any sort of relationship with another person, feel free to tune back in, because I think they’re probably applicable. As a lot of things in life do, this married life has its seasons — seasons where everything is scrumdiddlyumptious and you’re whistling while you work, and seasons where you think, “Um…is this what I signed up for?” If you’ve experienced anything like that, in any relationship, fear not, friend — you are not alone.

Yesterday, I noticed, as it sometimes happens, that Mark (my husband) and I were for lack of a better way of putting it, sort of nipping at each other’s heels.  Still doing our best to try to communicate our love to each other, show kindness to each other, and so on, but nevertheless somehow managing to disagree on everything from what a word means to whether or not the baby needed a blanket when we went for a walk with the pram.  Yesterday was Asher’s 8 month birthday (yay!) so we went for a wee hike up Arthur’s Seat, and although we were out of the flat and in the fresh air (and even a little sunshine) that slight “itch” or discontent lingered.

I had plenty of time this morning before church to spend time with the Lord, and I brought these thoughts to Him to say, “Lord, what is this thing that makes it feel like Mark and I are singing from different hymnals or playing for different teams?” [That’s pretty much a direct quote.] “Where does that come from?” The Lord was quick to remind me, unfortunately, that I am a sinner, and news flash, I also married a sinner.  Dang that’s tough!  And my direct realisation from that (thanks, Lord) — if sinners are anything, they’re selfish.  And so we are. We are going to act selfishly throughout this crazy thing called marriage, and as a result, we are sometimes going to hurt each other. But the lesson doesn’t end there.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to continually turn to the Lord, to keep being transformed by the renewing of your mind with God’s Truth, so that you can answer God’s call to be a servant — to love and serve one another with the love you’ve already been shown by Jesus. What I’m realising is that Mark and I keep falling back into the pattern of trying to keep tabs on “who’s doing what” and, perhaps more specifically, “who’s doing more.” We are so selfish! Somewhere deep down in our hearts, we don’t want to give too much — we don’t want to give more than the other person, and in some way be taken advantage of. We want to give just enough for it to be even and fair, and let’s be honest, we’re going to have pretty different opinions on what even and fair look like.

How do we change the way this looks? The basic principle the Lord has reminded us of over and over again is that because of our actions, we’re always spiraling in one direction, or another. If we work at loving and serving one another, if we train our hearts to want to go so far as to out-do each other with kindness, then the spiral starts moving in the right direction. One person serves and loves the other, and builds the other up in love and in confidence of that love and faithfulness, and the other person, in turn, is motivated to serve and love the first even more. Alternatively, if that first person acts selfishly, and it appears to the second person that the first is acting out of self-interest, then the day might look a lot like a game of spoons, where each person is grabbing for their own spoon, even if they have to jump across the table to get it. So the first person acts out of self-interest “Om, I’m pretty sure I changed the last poopy diaper…” and the second retorts “But I washed the dishes and gave the baby his bath.” And so the spiral continues in an outward direction, pulling the two apart, in the direction of their own selfish needs. If this isn’t caught in time, the two are so far apart they wonder how things ever got that way, if they can ever work it out, and if not, who gets the house and who gets the kids on the weekends.

Thanks be to God, who demonstrated to us the truest act of selfLESSness — sending His Son to die on a cross for the sins of us selfish human beings. He promises that “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) If we’re following the example Jesus set for us, we will work at loving and serving one another, without concern for being taken advantage of. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Mark, please forgive me for being such a selfish sinner!  I love you, and I continue to desire to love and to serve you for the rest of my days. It is a joy to be your wife. Please join me to praise the Lord who has forgiven me already! May He help us to keep the spiral going in the right direction for the rest of our time on Earth.

xCC