Marriage $hield Part V - Growing Your Marriage on Purpose

Introduction: About Marriage $hield Series


Money, and the lack thereof, can have a positive, or negative impact on just about any area of life, especially regarding marriage. The first articles in this series talked about more direct ways to shield marriage from financial stress. This current series of articles will discuss how the perspective of the woman of the house can greatly impact her family's prosperity. Specifically, it will discuss my journey as a woman of God who is striving to be the best wife and mother I can be, along with the scriptures that have been helping me in this process.

Earlier messages:
Part I - Communication and Honesty

Part II - Plan Finances as a Family and Delegate
Part III - Remember: Marriage is a Partnership

Part IV
FULFILLING GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE IN MARRIAGE & MOTHERHOOD
Part IVa: BECOMING A NEW WOMAN IN CHRIST
Part IVb: PURPOSELY SHIFTING THE PARADIGM

Part V
GROWING YOUR MARRIAGE ON PURPOSE

A woman's womb is often called a garden, and the hearts of men and women are compared to gardens in the holy scriptures. Gardens are not forests. They are not left to take care of themselves. That's why forests and jungles are called "The Wild".

A young female who is unprepared and has an unplanned pregnancy may end up in crisis and requiring intervention from her parents or other responsible adults to assist her with making the best decisions for herself and her baby.


For these and other reasons, it is vital that a woman's womb-garden be purposely attended to and protected.  Research has shown that purposeful preparation of the female womb with proper nutrition and less exposure to environmental toxins can help reduce the incidence of miscarriages, premature births, and birth defects.

In the same way, a marriage of two hearts left to tend to themselves will eventually end up in crisis mode and requiring outside wise assistance with getting back on track.  A healthy marriage is purposely cultivated by two people purposely doing whatever it takes to fulfill one another's needs, emotionally and physically.  A healthy marriage is cultivated on purpose by two people making their daily time together their highest priority.  When one or both parties are no longer maintaining proper perspective about their relationship and devoting enough time on purpose, it is vital for them to come into agreement to set aside all distractions and devote their time to one another.

Dr. Willard Harley, Jr. is the author of "His Needs, Her Needs", "Fall In Love, Stay In Love", "Love Busters", and other well known marriage books.  On his website, he has a wonderful article entitled "The Policy of Undivided Attention."  It is really very good wisdom, and we highly recommend that you read it, along with his other writings.

"The Love Bank" was a term coined by Dr. Harley to assist couples in understanding how much daily life can impact their marriages, both in good and bad ways.  As I mentioned above, gardening is a purposeful act, and so is banking.  Those who do not pay attention to their financial accounts usually end up with a financial mess, eventually.  Dr. Harley asserts that making the effort to understand how you are impacting your love relationship can help you to revive a dying marriage and save it from ruin.  Understanding the impact of your daily lifestyle and habits can help.


Unconditional God-Like Agape Love and better communication that flows out of that love have to be purposely grown in the heart and life of a Christian.  And not just communication with the mouth, but with the actions, too, every day.

SINGLE CHRISTIAN WOMEN, LISTEN UP!!!

The way to a man's heart truly is through his stomach.  So, start learning how to cook now so that you won't have to struggle so much in that area after you are married.  Good (even great if you can) food and the "marital connection" are two of the most important and obvious ways to show love to your man. Those things are an act of service that is pleasing to God. It's your ministry as a wife.

As you grow and mature in the Lord, you just want to be a better wife. At least I do. Being a good wife is ok, but I want to be a fabulous wife.  It is not that hard to do, once you set your mind to do it, especially for women -- because our babies hit and kick us and spit on us and pee on us, but we keep kissing them and loving on them and feeding them and meeting their needs.  So, why can't we do that for the man that gave us those kids, even if he's cuttin' up?

Trust your God that He holds that man's heart in his hands (Proverbs 21:1) and is turning it, just as he did with Queen Esther's unsaved, gentile King Xerxes.  Trust that, just as God has promised in His Word, you will receive your reward from God for being a blessing, on God's behalf, to that man.  Charity starts at home, so while you're thinking about being the hand of God in some stranger's life, start first with your own spouse.

The change you want to see, you have to be it first.  This phrase has been heard very often, since President Obama's speeches have become so well known, and it is so totally true.  I've been the change for my husband at times...and he's been the change for me when I was trippin', too.

Even if your man is not in Christ, yet, God has already promised that He'll handle things for you, and give you wisdom on how to conduct yourself in the meantime (I Corinthians 7:14, I Peter 3:1-3). So, will you trust Him to do what He has promised?

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Note: On UnderstandJesus.org and, specifically, in this article, the reference "your man" is referring to and equivalent to a natural born woman's one and only lawfully wed husband who is a natural born man.  "Marriage" is specifically referring to the biblical form of marriage as described in the book of Genesis 2:18-25 in the Holy Bible.




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