He Couldn't See
Theme of the Week: A Grace-Filled Marriage
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: You husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. (1 Peter 3:7) Bonus Reading: Philippians 2:1-5
Bill and his wife, Annie, came to see me for counseling. When Annie looked at Bill, she clearly adored him. She was an attractive woman in a plain kind of a way.
Bill told me, "I was the captain of the football team." That was important to him. I heard it several times. "I could date anybody in school I wanted. And I always dated the glamorous girls. The person I'm married to is not that. I know she loves me. She's a great mom and partner, but I'm having a hard time loving her. I've gotten her makeovers, and she looks stunning. But she hates it. I've gotten her beautiful outfits, and she doesn't like them. I need a princess and my wife is not."
In his book The Heart of Commitment, Scott Stanley writes that there comes a point where we have to grieve the loss of who our spouse is not.
I spent time with Bill, helping him grieve the loss of a princess in his life. He would never be married to somebody who loved being gussied up. That part of his life had to die for him to move into celebrating who Annie really was. To appreciate the beauty he couldn't even see.
—Michael Sytsma in Marriage Partnership
My Response: To celebrate who my wife really is, do I need to take time to grieve who she is not? Or is there an unrealistic expectation I have of her that I simply need to let go of?
Thought to Apply: When a wife has a good husband it is easily seen in her face.—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (German writer)
Adapted from our sister publication Marriage Partnership (Fall/2008) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced. To read the entire article upon which this week's devotionals are based, go to intimatemarriage.org/grace.
Copyright © 2010 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Dear heavenly Father, your grace is great! Without it I am forever lost. Empower me to extend grace to my wife because you have extended immeasurable grace to me.
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