The prescription for marriage

A few months ago, my husband had an infection in his toe. He went to the doctor, got a prescription and left that prescription on the kitchen counter for several days. His toe, as you would expect, did not get any better. In fact, it got worse. His toe displayed a variety of the colors in the rainbow and he was in great pain. After procrastinating long enough, he finally got the prescription filled, and once he took it, his foot was back to normal.

Why am I telling you this story? Well, it came to me during this time that an unhappy marriage is a lot like that infected toe. Something happens to create a flare up, or we get too busy to spend any real time together. After a while an “infection” develops and we find our marriage in serious trouble. Once that happens we need to seek out the prescription that will deal with that problem. The only prescription that will do any good is the Lord and His word. We need to study what the Bible says about being a good husband and a good wife. We need to know what Jesus said about being the person we were created to be. Along with knowing what God says, we need to learn some practical tools that can be used in everyday situations that will allow us to grow together through good times and bad. We need to know how to love for a lifetime, how to communicate and how to resolve conflict.

The trick is not in finding all this information, but in actually USING it. See, marriage is WORK. And at some point, you have to make a choice that you want your relationship to thrive. It would be wonderful if the honeymoon lasted forever, but the reality is that is just doesn’t. It’s then that we learn to love each other with the love of Christ and make it our daily purpose to do so.

Just like my husband’s prescription–it did him no good just sitting on the counter. He had what he needed to get well, but he just didn’t use it. Once we discover God’s plan for a thriving marriage (and His plan is the best one) and put it to use, only then will we find that the “infections” in our marriage become the exception and not the rule.

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