Ever driven a car out of alignment where it keeps pulling to one side? Annoying? Yes. And detrimental. Some spouses are out of alignment and the same thing happens. I feel very fortunate to be married (now for 39 years) to someone with whom “it works”! Not all marriages work, or work out. But, when you feel a harmony, oneness, and mutual love, its the most wonderful way to live. I can’t say what the problem is in every marriage, but one source of difficulty is that marriages are made of up of two different people. Unless they decide to lay down their own privilege, rights, and preferences, there will be strife. That’s why the apostle Paul tells us “submit to one another”. To submit means to ‘fall in line’ or ‘form close rank with another’… not just to obey another. The result is alignment!
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:31-33 NASB
How willing am I form ranks with my wife, even when it means I don’t get my way?
God, as this day begins (in Switzerland)- I am happy to complete a beautiful trip and return home to the people I love! I am grateful for the amazing wife You have afforded me. I can’t imagine anything or anyone different. You have blessed me beyond measure. May I be an equal partner and fully aligned so that we might become the people You desire and fulfill the calling You have on our lives and marriage together.
