- Mar 28, 2005
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After making my previous posts, some more thoughts came to mind and I feel to share them. The marriage relationship is a very special one to God. He sees the two as one flesh. When we moved from my wife's home town to take a teaching job in a different city, this was the first time in her life (40years) that she had lived outside of her home town. When we got there, I did not go the church because I didn't want to leave her at home alone in a strange city. I didn't go to church for six years until we got to Auckland NZ where there was the Presbyterian Church 5 minutes walk down the street from home. I put her wellbeing before church. I was not going to expect her to make a sacrifice just because I wanted to become part of a church and the activities of it that might cause me to be away from her for lengths of time.
Therefore I needed to sacrifice my Christian fellowship for her. I believe that this is the spirit of Christ. If He sacrificed His life for us, then it is nothing for me to sacrifice something far less for the person I love. Even though I am a full-gospel believer, by attending a "middle of the road" Presbyterian church is sacrificing perhaps better ministry opportunites to ensure that she is happy and fulfilled in her life.
If my marriage was similar to the OP, and my wife became sad and depressed because I attended a church that was foreign to her, then in Christ, it was up to me to make the sacrifice for her, not her to be expected to make a sacrifice for me. In making a sacrifice of full-gospel fellowship for her by attending her non full-gospel church, then I am in a better place with Christ than I would have been if I had refused to make the sacrifice. I would then believe that God would honour my sacrifice and work in both of us to give us more of Christ, and perhaps, get her filled with the Spirit and enter into the full-gospel experience. I have been praying for this for my wife for the whole 26 years of our marriage, and it hasn't happened yet. But I won't force anything, because that would be presumption and not faith. Faith waits on the Lord to do things His way and gets on with the things I can do in my present family environment. I reckon that's what being a loving and supportive husband involves.
Therefore I needed to sacrifice my Christian fellowship for her. I believe that this is the spirit of Christ. If He sacrificed His life for us, then it is nothing for me to sacrifice something far less for the person I love. Even though I am a full-gospel believer, by attending a "middle of the road" Presbyterian church is sacrificing perhaps better ministry opportunites to ensure that she is happy and fulfilled in her life.
If my marriage was similar to the OP, and my wife became sad and depressed because I attended a church that was foreign to her, then in Christ, it was up to me to make the sacrifice for her, not her to be expected to make a sacrifice for me. In making a sacrifice of full-gospel fellowship for her by attending her non full-gospel church, then I am in a better place with Christ than I would have been if I had refused to make the sacrifice. I would then believe that God would honour my sacrifice and work in both of us to give us more of Christ, and perhaps, get her filled with the Spirit and enter into the full-gospel experience. I have been praying for this for my wife for the whole 26 years of our marriage, and it hasn't happened yet. But I won't force anything, because that would be presumption and not faith. Faith waits on the Lord to do things His way and gets on with the things I can do in my present family environment. I reckon that's what being a loving and supportive husband involves.
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