‘The heart of her husband safely trusts her.’ Proverbs 31:11 NKJV
If you want a happy marriage, here are two things you must always keep in mind:
(1) Never demean your mate in public. When you do, you demean yourself. Solomon writes, ‘Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her… She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.’ (Proverbs 31:10–12 NKJV) Somebody said, ‘Before you criticise your mate’s taste, stop and remember they picked you!’ The fact is we all have habits, struggles, weaknesses, fantasies, childhood memories, unspoken needs, and longings hidden deep inside. Our yearning for someone to trust is profound and unchanging. That’s why God designed marriage to be a safe haven in a dangerous world. If you can’t trust your mate—who can you trust?
(2) Always have shared dreams and goals. Today couples are divorcing at an alarmingly high rate between the seventeenth and twenty-fifth year of marriage. Do you know why? That’s usually when the last child graduates from college or university and leaves home. Now there’s just the two of you. And when you’ve spent all your time focusing on your kids and neglecting one another, you can wake up one day and feel like you’re living with a stranger. So how do you avoid that? By having lifetime goals and dreams you’re both working towards. Remember, you’re more than just parents—you’re people—and God has a plan for your lives as a couple. If you haven’t discovered it yet, talk about it, then pray together and ask God to reveal it to you. That’s a prayer He’ll answer!
SoulFood: Lev 23:15–22, Acts 2:1–18
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2023
