LOVE NEVER GIVES UP
“Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. John 13:1
If your spouse is not in a place of receiving your love right now, the act of covenant keeping can be more daunting with each passing day.
But marriage is not a contract with convenient escape clauses and selfish exception wordings.
Marriage is a covenant intended to cut off all avenues of retreat or withdrawal.
There’s no going back.
There’s no opting out.
There’s nothing in the world that should sever what God has joined together.
Your love is based on a covenant.
And your covenant is based on the changing character of a covenant-keeping God.
The prophet Malachi wrote that one reason God withholds His blessing is that He hates divorce and is angered when husbands deal treacherously with their wives, breaking the covenant they made (Malachi 2:16).
Seeing marriage as a contract is like saying to your spouse, “I take you for me, and we’ll see if it works out.”
But realizing it as a covenant changes it around to say, “I give myself to you and commit to this marriage for life.”
Questions
Have you committed to your marriage for life?
Could you remind your spouse of your lifelong covenant with them?
Why not renew your love in a creative way?
NOTE: This article is from the book, “The Love Dare – Day by Day authored by Kendrick
NOTE: Every day there is a new post to help your marriage succeed.
LOVE YOUR SPOUSE 
Dear Sis Nancy I look forward to your blogs on marriages considering I hated my husband for some time for all what has happened in our marriage. I feel so convicted on your teachings because I know I made a covenant to my husband when we married. Through sickness and in health, my husband has been sick for some time due to addictions to opiates and street drugs he has treated me so bad through emotional and verbal abuse. This has been going on for some time. I keep asking God to let me love him like he loves him and to see him through Gods eyes. Every time I do this it gets worse and I know the attacks the Devil tries to discourage me. My husband had a siezure just recently and really did some damage to his head. I found myself not being compassionate to my husband. I am currently doing the Love Dare by myself and crying myself to sleep because I feel so bad. My husband is a wounded man through his own upbringing. I love your blogs, as well it encourages me and gives me hope when I feel so hopeless thank you! Thank you Jesus he got saved last night. Pray he falls in love with Jesus all the way.
Hi Elizabeth! What a fabulous comment. God must be so proud of you for all you have done for your husband. I know I am blessed to here about the challenge that has ended in victory. You are an encouragement to me. My prayers are with you that he becomes a strong christian for Christ. Get others in your church involved to pray him through. God bless you!
Hi Elizabeth, I can really relate to you. I was in the exact same situation with my husband just a few years ago. My husband was even in a wheelchair for quite some time. He was abusive and I had to be his caregiver. It was terrible but God saw us through…he is now serving God with us as a family and our marriage has never been stronger. Please continue praying for your husband. I will pray for your marriage as well and I believe your marriage will be a great testimony and a tremendous blessing to other couples. We celebrate 17 years next month…!
Hi L.Lopez! I really enjoyed your comment to Elizabeth. What great encouragement. You have a powerful testimony. Keep encouraging marriages. You are honoring God’s “Holy Institution” every time you do. Have a blessed day!
Elizabeth and Lopez,
Your stories are in inspiration. You all made it through some tough situations where normal folks may have just walked out. I admire your strength. I know I have the strength to weather the storm but it’s still hard. I would encourage you all to continue to read Mrs. Nancy’s blog because when my storm is over I plan to as well. I’ve already began encouraging other married friends, who are not in storms, to read it just to be better husbands or wives. God bless you all.
Sis. Nancy
I love reading your daily blogs. I’m struggling with patience and I have read many books on how to save my marriage and also doing the Love Dare alone. My husband and I have been separated 8 wks now and it is the hardest thing I have ever done. I was married before and divorce with 2 beautiful wonderful daughters truly a gift from God. I married my second husband whom I believe was God send. He has been a wonderful husband and father to my girls better than their own father. He did have a gambling addiction which we worked through two years ago and I have held resentment and harbor I’ll feelings causing my marriage to suffer. I have now recommitted my marriage and life to God and changes from the inside out. I know things happen for a reason and it will be in God’s time but I love this man. I have learned and now know the past is just that the past and I love him unconditionally. I see good in all things and I just pray that God will restore our marriage and we reconcile and he knows God but I’m not sure if he has the strong faith and forgiving heart as God allows us to have and pray that my husband will come home and allow us another chance on what I know God brought us together and wants us to stay together.
I’m just sick over how I have allow this to happen to the greatest thing God blessed me with is a spouse/helpmate. I have lost 30 lbs and can’t sleep. I read and pray most all of my spare time and I’m keeping the positive faith and trust in God I just pray that my patience will pay off soon and love will prevail. Please pray for me and my family. Keep doing the wonderful blogs you do…they are so helpful and encouraging. I pray for all who suffer with marriage difficulties that their pain ends soon. May God bless you and all those who are dealing with similar situations as myself.
Love and peace be with you all.
Hi Tammy! Thanks so much for sharing your painful story. I am sure it will encourage many marriages to work through their issues. You are doing all the right things. You have turned to God and he will strengthen you and teach you. Stay in His word. Your husband probably wants you to change but he is probably struggling with believing that you will change. Many spouses on their second marriage are much harder to their new spouse. They have made up their mind that they are not going to put up with this new husband anything their first spouse dished out to them. God will show him that you have changed. Your Job right now is to become more Christ-like daily. There is a ministry that assists wives whose husbands have left them. I know woman in my church that listens to it all day. They say it is very encouraging. The ministry is called Rejoice Marriage Ministries,Inc. There will be hundreds of wives praying for you who read this blog. Don’t give up! God has your prayer in the palm of His hand. Read every day 1Pet.5:6-7. And do what it says. You are not alone.