‘“The Lord formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else. I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began. I was born before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters. Before the mountains were formed, before the hills, I was born— before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil. I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans. I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established springs deep in the earth. I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when he marked off the earth’s foundations,’ Proverbs 8:22-29(NLT)
‘Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.’ Romans 12:4-8(NLT)
We’re two-thirds of the way through our reading and now it’s time to focus in on something we’ve already talked around: boundaries.
We know we all have different gifts, all of which are given to us by God. Respecting one another’s boundaries is really just a way to honor those gifts. To understand that, while we want unity in our marriages, we don’t want lock-step conformity.
This also gets back to the idea of rhythms that we talked about a few days ago. Just like we each have our own rhythms, we also have our own interests and responsibilities – and those don’t always line up with those of our spouse.
That’s okay!
It’s not your job to turn your spouse into another version of you. It’s your job to celebrate them for who they are – all of it. Just like today’s passage from Proverbs, where we read from the point of view of wisdom personified, we understand that boundaries lead to beauty.
And beauty is a key part of a love that lasts.
from 12 Days To A Love That Lasts