6 Commitments of Highly Effective Marriages -- Part 6 | Piety

I saved the most important for last.  Highly effective marriages are committed to piety.  That is, they are committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  They are committed to loving and obeying Jesus Christ.

This principle is based on the words of Jesus in John 14:15.  "If you love me, you will keep my commands."  

Your marriage will likely go through some tough times.  There will be times when your spouse won't seem very attractive to you.  You may lose that "loving feeling" and fall out of love for a season. You will get very angry with your spouse.  Your spouse is going to hurt you.  You will not always want to serve your spouse, or be kind to your spouse.  There will be times when you will think to yourself, "Why did I marry him?  I wish I could get out of this!"  When you go through the hard times, where will you get the strength to keep loving your spouse?  Where will you get the strength to keep going and not give up?  It will have to come from outside of yourself, because everything within you will be screaming, "I done!"  In the dark days of marriage you need the light of Christ.  

When all else fails, it is your commitment to Christ that will give you the strength and motivation to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep doing what is right.  In the dark days of marriage, you will love your wife not because she is lovely, but because you love Jesus and He told you to.  You will respect your husband not because he is respectable, but because you love Jesus and He told you to.  You will be faithful to your spouse and not run off with another person not because your spouse is more attractive, but because you love Jesus and He told you to.  You will forgive your spouse once again not because they deserve it, but because you love Jesus and He told you to.  You won't walk out and file for divorce not because of your love for your spouse, but because of your love for Jesus.

In the end, the most important thing you can do to have an effective marriage is to pursue full devotion to Jesus Christ.  Put Jesus first and strive to keep growing spiritually.