“Whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”
We happen to live on glacial till. I love everything about our property, except the soil. The combination of rocks, clay, and sand creates a hostile environment for anything other than weeds and gangly oak and pine trees. We are all attempting to grow and nurture our marriages in the cultural equivalent of glacial till. Our world is increasingly inhospitable to committed, sacrificial relationships. Not only are we encouraged to pursue happiness and self-fulfillment over sacrifice, but when we faithfully love each other, no one celebrates by applauding our efforts or offering us a cash bonus.
Like the gardeners here in New England, our motivation to make and sustain beautiful marriages must come from within. We have to commit—and then refuse to quit. Regardless of whether or not we feel like it. Regardless of whether anyone is noticing what we’re doing or cheering us on.
Despite the sometimes lonely and seemingly Sisyphean nature of transformation, our Father does not want us to despondently abandon the work or soldier on in grim drivenness. Because he longs for our transformation more than we do, God not only provides us with an example of what it means to love but also offers us resurrection power (Eph. 1:19–20), increasing the likelihood of our success. In the context of marriage, success comes after we work the soil, plant, water, and prune—in faith—year after year. The gradual transformation of our inner landscapes allows us to embrace each other in our flawed states and offer an imperfect, yet oh-so-sweet, love. It’s mysterious but true that the very process of loving sacrificially leads to transformation, not only in the lover but also in the one loved.
Reflect:
Contemplate the transformation described in 2 Corinthians 3:18. How is the Spirit empowering you to grow and change to be more like Christ? How do you sense God at work, transforming your marriage to reflect his love?
Pray:
Pray for the future of your marriage, sharing with God ways you’d like to grow in your relationship and seeking his power to do so.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
A Christian reconciliation group in Israel and Palestine warned that war would come. Now the war threatens their relevance.العربيةFrançais
Christian artists work at the intersection of music and climate change.
