Holy and Happy

I’m currently reading Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas, which is essentially about how marriage is designed not to make us happy, but to make us holy. While marriage continues to play a huge role in the Lord’s sanctification in my life, I am blessed to be a part of a marriage that also brings me great joy. I realize that not everyone is in the same situation and I definitely don’t take this incredible gift for granted. But I do think that while God does want to use the marriage relationship to sanctify us, he also gives it to us as a gift that he means for us to enjoy. And such is true of life and relationships in general as well.

Today (and most days), I am feeling blessed to be married to Chase Russell. He has loved me faithfully and consistently for the past 4 years of marriage, and really for the 4 years of dating before that. He has made sacrifices for me, large and small, to show me that he loves me. When I got sick, that’s when I really learned that love is an action. He has selflessly served me for months, forgetting about his own needs and desires to meet my own. This incredible servant love only makes me want to serve and love him back (which is an example of Emerson Eggerich’s “Energizing Circle” from his book Love and Respect). And this, not surprisingly, results in us both being happy. We don’t take our marriage for granted and we know how blessed we are to have each other.

When I hear about broken and hurting marriages, my heart breaks and I desire for others to get to experience the greatness that marriage can be. But also, what an incredible opportunity for sanctification it is. The perfect platform for God to shape us into His image. I highly recommend Sacred Marriage to couples who haven’t read it yet, but more than that, I pray that marriage would serve not only to sanctify you and conform you into the image of the Son, but also bring you immense and incredible joy.