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Men of Integrity, January/February 2005
Icy Response
Theme of the Week: Renovate Your Romance
Monday, February 14
Key Bible Verse: Quick! Catch all the little foxes before they ruin the vineyard of your love (Song of Songs 2:15). Bonus Reading: Mark 10:42-45
When I grew up, my family lived by a simple rule: If you take out an ice cube, you refill the tray before you put it back in. Now I'll put out a tray and find nothing more than half an ice cube—which I call an ice chip.
It's amazing how much such a small detail irritated me. I asked Lisa, "How much do you love me?"
"More than all the world," she professed.
"I don't need you to love me that much," I said. "I just want you to love me for seven seconds."
"What on earth are you talking about?" she asked.
"Well, I timed how long it takes to fill an ice cube tray; it's just seven sec—"
"Oh, Gary, are we back to that again?"
It finally dawned on me one day that if it takes Lisa just seven seconds to fill an ice cube tray, that's all it takes me as well. Was I really so selfish that I was willing to let seven seconds' worth of inconvenience become a serious issue in my marriage? Was my capacity to show charity really that limited?
Marriage has forced me to face my character flaws and sinful attitudes, and encouraged me to be cleansed and to grow in godliness.
—Gary Thomas in Sacred Marriage
My Response: This Valentine's Day, the marital "pet peeve" I'll let go of is …
Adapted from Sacred Marriage (Zondervan, 2000) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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January/February 2005, Vol. 8, No. 1
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Prayer for the Week |
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Lord, give me a resolve to relate to my wife with Your kind of love.
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