‘Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. ‘ Colossians 3:1-2(NLT)
‘As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”’ Luke 10:38-42(NLT)
‘You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!’ Revelation 2:3-4(NLT)
Devotional Content:
Besides raising kids, the second culprit for causing distraction in marriages is work. Obviously for most of us, work is an essential part of our lives. We have to work to pay the bills, but our marriages suffer when we allow life to get in a cycle such as getting up in the morning, working all day, coming home, eating dinner, maybe watching a little TV, going to bed, and starting all over again. We begin to drift apart. We don’t connect as often, and we don’t feel as close. Work distracts us from our marriages.
I love what I do and Nancy loves what she does, but we love each other more. For us that means that work cannot consume us. We have to keep the proper balance. When we work, we work hard; but there is a time to leave work and be together. One thing that really helps me is consciously making the transition each day from work to home. I have a short commute, but in that time I leave my workday and all its concerns behind. Prayer really helps me here. I can turn everything to God and then focus on coming home and spending time with Nancy.
Today’s Challenge: Take an honest look at how your work affects your marriage.
Going Deeper:
1. Dr. Kim says that our marriage suffers when we focus too much on work and not enough on our marriages. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being very distracted. How distracted are you with work?
2. When was the last time you consciously switched gears from work to home?
3.What practical step can you take this week to ensure that work isn’t becoming a bad distraction from your marriage?
4. Make a point to consciously leave work at work this week and not be consumed by it. Pray for God to give you the strength to do so.
from Distractions In Your Marriage – Part 1 by Dr. Kim Kimberling