Joint Venture
Theme of the Week: Marriage Is a Team Sport
Monday, February 9, 2009
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one (Genesis 2:24). Bonus Reading: Philippians 2:3-4
After several years of marriage, he, the adventuresome male, decided he wanted to serve God in a distant land. She, the risk-averse bug hater, emphatically didn't want to become a missionary. He plowed ahead with his plan. The marriage ended in divorce.
The question isn't whether he was "called" and more spiritual or whether she was too timid, but whether they were united in this major decision. Clearly not. They were banging their oars as they paddled vigorously in opposite directions.
I'm suspicious of people who claim a special insight into God's will while a spouse is vocally opposed or sending signals of quiet desperation. "I'm just following God's will," spouts the bullheaded husband as he drags his reluctant wife along.
There are many things I don't know about God's will, but I do know he doesn't want me to wreck my marriage … run roughshod over my wife's opinion or desires … be stubborn and insensitive. He certainly doesn't want me to make major unilateral decisions and call it "leadership."
When you marry, you give up the right to unilaterally pursue just any dream that attracts you. Because you and your spouse have been joined under God, decisions need to be made jointly.
—Dave Meurer in Good Spousekeeping
My Response: What plans or personal visions do I need to talk through with my wife?
Adapted from Good Spousekeeping (Cook, 2004) by permission.
Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Help me, Lord, to sacrificially love my wife in practical ways that will bind us tightly together.
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