The Most Valuable Gift - The One Year Love Talk Devotional for Couples
The Most Valuable Gift
We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
Ephesians 4:15
On June 11, 2002, one of the most popular shows on American television made its debut. American Idol set out to discover the best singers in the country though a series of nationwide auditions. The multiple-audition format features judges along the way who critique contestants’ performances, culminating in a final panel of judges on the live program. At the show’s inception, these three final judges’ seats were filled by people whose personalities were easily identifiable. The passive Paula Abdul offered a gracious but not always truthful critique. Simon Cowell took the infamously aggressive approach that was truthful but rarely gracious. Randy Jackson was typically truthful and gracious at the same time.
We could all probably take a lesson from Randy. Why? Because most of us tend to lean either toward grace without truth or truth without grace. But when we combine the two, we “speak the truth in love.”
Truth without grace is judgment. It says hurtful things in marriage like, “You’re kidding me! I specifically asked you to leave the door unlocked, and because of you I’ve been waiting here, locked out, all this time. How dumb can you be?” Grace, on the other hand, says, “I know that I made an unusual request and that you locked the door out of habit. I could have done the same thing. Don’t worry about it.”
Grace comes from the Greek work charis that means “gift.” It’s not earned. It’s not deserved. That’s what makes grace so valuable in marriage. In fact, it just may be the most valuable gift you ever give your spouse. And of course, when we grow in grace, we become more like Christ.
Think about how you could be extending more grace to your spouse today, and then do it.
Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live.
—Jacqueline Winspear
The One Year Love Talk Devotional for Couples
By Dr. Les Parrott and Dr. Leslie Parrott
Tyndale
$7.99
