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Why did you marry? Â Was it because you wanted to minister to another person for the rest of your life, or was it so the other person could fulfill your happiness?
Most of us would go with the latter statement. Â After all, don’t you want “Somebody to love”?!
We all do. Â We want to love and be loved.
Did your marriage turn out like you thought it would? Â Or are you wondering what in the world you were thinking when you said, “I do”?
If you’re tired of fighting with your mate and dealing with hurt feelings, may I ask you a question?
Would you give up SELFÂ to save your marriage?
Because truthfully, that’s what it will take.
Marriage is about becoming more like Jesus Christ. Â ~Gary Thomas
My husband and I had our troubles too. Â In fact, one time I hurled his suitcase down the stairs and told him to get out .
Today, I challenge you to take another look at what you always thought about marriage.
In his book, Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas poses this question:
What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than make us happy?
Because the truth of the matter is, if our sole desire is to be like Christ, we will find true happiness and joy by serving our mates.
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ~Galatians 5:13
If you haven’t had a chance to read yesterday’s post called called, How to Rescue your marriage with 7 important actions, I hope you’ll take the time to read about how God changed my heart and saved my marriage.
These 7 steps are essential to understanding why your marriage doesn’t look the way you think it should and how you can turn things in the right direction.
One final, sobering thought from Gary Thomas:
`Behind every case of marital dissatisfaction lies unrepentant sin.
That’s a pretty bold statement, but I think if we look deep inside – no matter how much our spouses are at fault – we will find this statement pretty close to accurate.
You can save your marriage with God’s help. Â Click here to find out how.
`We can choose to let sin tear apart our marriages, or we can use our marriages to tear apart our sin.
Featured post from last week’s Link up!
*NOTE:  Be sure to click the link to read the rest of this sweet post!
Do you drink decaf coffee?  I ran across Alexis from the Chemistry Cachet last week and her post about decaf coffee drew me in!  She is a real, live chemist and she’s running a chemist solutions series -chemist tips that make your life easier, better, and healthier!
Believe it or not, decaf has been around for over one hundred years. In the early 1900s, a German coffee merchant, Ludwig Roselius, invented a way to remove caffeine from coffee with a chemical called benzene. For all you non-chemistry people out there, benzene is a fairly toxic chemical and prolonged exposure is linked with a increase in cancer risks including bone marrow failure! Basically…it is not good for humans at all. Even OSHA checks this for potential safety hazards for workers.  {Be sure to check out the rest of this post here!}
~Alexis from Chemistry Cachet, Chemist Solutions: Is Decaf even good for you?
Welcome to Tuesday Talk!
Co-hosting with these wonderful ladies
each Tuesday at 8:00 AM EST!
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Hi Ruthie!! Thanks so much for featuring my post and hosting today. Have a wonderful week!!
You’re so very welcome, dear! Loved that post – maybe that’s why my husband and I always got sleepy after drinking decaf – chemicals???
I bet so! A friend of mine used to drink decaf all the time, and she was getting the worst headaches along with being super tired. I told her to try a better brand and her headaches went away! She was using some cheap brand that used a chemical method!!
That is so crazy! It’s so funny how Jim and I were just wondering that last Sunday after drinking our decaf and dozing off and then I read your post on Tuesday. You saved us, Alexis!
I am sooo happy you found it useful!! I hope y’all can enjoy more energy now 🙂 And hopefully the organic brand is tasty too!
Thanks for hosting today, friend. I love reading your wisdom on marriage. This was a great continuation of yesterday!
Thanks so much, Betsy! I love your’s too. So good to see you on the link up again today! 🙂
Ruthie, so much truth in your words. Rev and I have been married 44 years. Yes, we were 10 when we got married. 🙂 It seems that any struggles we’ve had have been when one of us started focusing personally and not on the other person and the team. It is hard to give up selfishness, but it is truly the answer to a happy marriage. Thanks for hosting and for sharing this wisdom.
Hahaha! 44 years is a long, long time. And I thought 28 was long…
I appreciate your wisdom as well, Deb. I imagine you have a lot to say on the subject!! Thanks for linking up today – can’t wait to share your post Thursday! 🙂
Man, where the heck have I been? Just checking in after waaaaay too long, friend!! Good to see you again, and, of course, thanks for hosting AND sharing your precious thoughts with us – and yes, even that sobering thought from Gary Thomas ;-)!
And yes, I always THOUGHT that decaf was a waste of time…now I have some science behind it!!
{{hugs}}
I’ve wondered about you, friend! Thanks so much for joining in Tuesday Talk and for your kind words. You are too good to me and yes – go for organic decaf!!!