‘But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”’ Mark 10:6-9(NLT)
‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Genesis 2:24(NLT)
‘As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.’ Ephesians 5:31-33(NLT)
‘Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.’ Ecclesiastes 4:9-12(NLT)
Married 17 years, Michael and Shelley work together, play together, eat together, love together, and parent three daughters together. They see marriage as a partnership of “one flesh.” But it wasn’t always that way.
Shelley:
Early in our marriage, I dreaded football season. Michael would want to enjoy a day of football while I saw Saturday as “honey do” day. After several football seasons of frustration, I decided to pray. I just wanted my husband to do the things I wanted to do (selfish, I know). God helped me with a thought like this, “Can you love what he loves?” Saturday football became “our” thing. Guess what happened next? Michael began pausing the game to help me with my projects. God helped me realize I hadn’t been treating my husband like a partner. In fact, I didn’t even understand what partnership was. Today, our marriage is stronger than ever. We’re one flesh—three strands that can’t easily be broken. And that’s largely because we’ve learned to love each other by loving each other’s passions.
Michael:
Shelley and I have been partners for a while, so it’s easy to take her for granted. Sometimes I feel like I’m the one doing all the work while she just coasts on my momentum. (I know, I know.) And when I do, I bet she feels the same way about me. Recently, Shelley went out of town for an entire week, and any notions that I was creating the momentum left with her. Just trying to style hair, pack lunches, make coffee, and get the kids on the bus—things we do together every day—were overwhelming. It’s been 17 years, and I’m still learning we have unique strengths in this partnership. Her strengths complement my weaknesses, and mine hers. We fit. The two of us are becoming “one flesh.” It’s not that she completes me. Only God does that. But, with Him we’re two complete individuals being forged in the fires of our passions and adversity into something totally new. And, believe me, we’re so much better together.
Pray: God, help me see marriage as a partnership of passions, a two becoming one. Help me to not look to my own desires or to a spouse for my fulfillment, but to You. Help me to come to marriage whole, ready for partnership.
from The Vow