How Today’s Self-Help Culture Can Damage Your Marriage
Nowadays, anything can be a “do-it-yourself” project. All you need is the right self-help strategy, or have a couple of appointments with the right self-improvement guru, and…POOF! Problem solved. Right?
Maybe that’ll work if you need to shed a few pounds or tile the bathroom floor. But when it comes to something as important as fixing your marriage, you can’t afford to rely on your own genius or somebody else’s well-meaning advice. To do so takes the focus completely away from the only One who has the ability to make your relationship as husband and wife all you’ve ever wanted it to be – a dream marriage come true!
That special someone is the Lord God Almighty, your loving Creator. As a Christian, you have access to all His incomparable knowledge. How? Through prayer and from the Bible, His holy Word.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “Okay, Randy…I understand that. God has the answers. But we’ve been struggling in our marriage with this issue for a long time. What’s wrong with getting some good counsel?”
Nothing…necessarily. Christian counselors have a lot to offer. But I simply want to encourage you today to not sell God short. I’m convinced that His Word contains the principles and, in many cases, the specific direction to address your specific marital problem. You just have to dig for it! When you combine that with heartfelt conversation with God in prayer, and an ear attuned to the Holy Spirit’s direction (your Heavenly “counselor,” John 14:26) – no man’s knowledge, no matter how extensive, can compare.
Psalm 119:99-100 says, “I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.”
The prophet Jeremiah wrote these piercing words: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depend on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him” (Jeremiah 7:5-7).
“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom,” Paul states in 1 Corinthians 1:25. He goes on to make an incredible statement in the close of the next chapter: “But we have the mind of Christ.”
Do me a favor. This week, set aside time together with your spouse to search God’s Word. Read and discuss the Bible’s familiar passages on marriage (Ephesians 5:22-6:9 and Colossians 3:18-4:1 are great starting points). Then look up verses pertaining to the difficulty in your marriage. For example, if it’s anger, do a word search on “anger,” and see what you find. Then pray together and intercede separately for your need.
Today you’ve learned that the only dependable source of help and hope for your marriage is God. Our self-help culture and man’s wisdom can only go so far. It has some major limitations. And your marriage to too precious to fool around with anything else!
From: theintentionallife.com
December 17 2008 11:22 pm | Christian Living