Two disparate comments about married life came to my attention recently. One was positive and the other tragically negative about marriage.
One young man said: “marriage is such an awesome gift from the Lord…. And it has been getting better day by day.”
Another young man said: “I keep telling anyone that if you want time to yourself don’t get married and don’t have kids.” A person who wants to get married “must either have a lot of spare time, or not want time to yourself?”
In view of these competing ideas you could question whether marriage is a “good thing” or not. To one young man marriage is “an awesome gift” while to the other marriage robs you of “time to yourself”.
Can you see something in these comments?
It seem that “selfishness” is not something a person should take into marriage.
But then, selfishness is not something a person should take into the rest of their life either.
Our two greatest challenges are to Love God and to Love Others – see Luke 10:27 “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.”
Maybe what we see in the two quotes is that selfishness spoils a person’s abiltiy to enjoy marriage. And isn’t it true that selfishness spoils many other things in life too? When people have self-interest they become upset at anything which gets in their way, be it spouse, child, frlends, circumstances or anything else.
Let me assure you that MARRIAGE IS A GOOD THING.
However, don’t be surprised when marriage and family challenge your selfishness. When that happens don’t become negative about MARRIAGE, but recognise your own need to receive God’s help and to grow in grace.
Tags: and family, challenges, Heart, love the lord your god, married life, neighbour, self interest, selfishness, spare time, young man
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