I just started reading a book called “What Makes a Woman Feel Loved? Understanding What Your Wife Really Wants.” So far, it’s pretty good. I have only gotten through a couple chapters, but a few things in the second chapter impressed me so much, I had to write them here.
The second chapter is entitled: Making a Great Marriage. It starts off with a quote from Robert Quillen: “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” I thought that was a great statement…and a true one at that! Then it goes on to describe a GREAT marriage – GREAT being an acronym:
G – Giving
R – Relating
E – Edifying
A – Allowing your mate to be God’s person
T – Touching
The rest of the chapter goes on to discuss each of these concepts in more detail. Then what really struck me was the closing comments about marriage.
- All marriages aren’t happy; living together is tough.
- A good marriage is not a gift; it takes an achievement by God’s grace.
- Marriage is not for children; it takes guts and maturity.
- Marriage separates the men from the boys and the women from the girls.
- Marriage is tested daily by the ability to compromise.
- The survival of marriage can depend on being smart enough to know what’s worth fighting about, making an issue of, or even mentioning.
- Marriage is giving, and more importantly, forgiving.
- With all its ups and downs, marriage is still God’s best object lesson of Jesus and the church.
- Through submission to one another we can witness to the world that marriage does work and is still alive.
- Marriage is worth dying for. If we give it proper honor, we will be honored by our children, our families, our neighbors, our friends, and — best of all — our Lord.
Good stuff! GREAT stuff, actually!
