What Did You Marry? - The One Year Love Talk Devotional for Couples
What Did You Marry?
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isaiah 26:3
When pastor and writer Skye Jethani and his wife, Amanda, were dating, she bought a car with the help of her dad. They found a car they liked at a local car dealership, and Amanda wanted Skye’s opinion. His opinion of the car wasn’t too good, but as he saw it, he was “just the boyfriend.” Since Amanda’s dad was the one helping to pay for the car, Skye didn’t see that he had any ground to stand on when it came to swaying the decision. So he told Amanda to do whatever her dad thought was best. He figured it wasn’t his car, so it wasn’t his problem.
Two years later, however, Skye and Amanda were married. And that’s when the car became his problem. A mere one thousand miles after the warranty expired, the transmission gave out. “Although I was tempted to do so,” says Skye, “I didn’t turn to Amanda and say, ‘You bought this lousy car—this is your problem.’ We were married. Her problems, regardless of where they came from, were my problems.”a
And that’s exactly right. When you marry a person, it doesn’t mean you only marry the aspects of the person and the life that you want. You marry the whole person—goofy quirks, bad habits, and even the lousy car.
Of course, the same is true for your spouse: he or she married the whole you. To help you counter the natural inclination to dwell on how much you “have to put up with” because of your partner, we suggest you take a moment right now to note a handful of things your partner has to put up with because of you. This takes humility and grace, we know, but it’s sure to realign your outlook.
When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.
—Peace Pilgrim
a 61
The One Year Love Talk Devotional for Couples
By Dr. Les Parrott and Dr. Leslie Parrott
Tyndale
$7.99
