SATURDAY – QUESTION AND ANSWER

SATURDAY – QUESTION AND ANSWER

Question #1.  How are forgiveness and romance related?

Answer #1.  

There’s nothing worse than lying in the darkness, back-to-back, and fuming about some petty argument.  Satan is out to destroy marriages, and one of his best tools is unresolved conflict.  No wonder Paul urged believers: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph.4:32).

How did Christ forgive us?  By laying down His life.  He didn’t wait until we apologized.  He took the initiative to forgive.  I should do the same, even when I feel my husband is clearly in the wrong.  Sometimes it is much easier for me to see only what he did wrong than it is for me to admit my part in the conflict.

When conflict arises, I must resist my tendency to run from the confrontation and, instead, run towards forgiveness.  I must choose to listen, to imagine how my husband feels, and to pray for wisdom, understanding, and God’s help to work it all out.

Seek help from a Christian counselor if needed.  But for the sake of your marriage, forgive, “not…up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matt.18:22).  Allow Christ to use His resurrection power to heal and restore your marriage.

Forgiveness guards our hearts from bitterness and creates fertile soil in which romance and love can grow.

NOTE:  This article was taken from the book Family Life and Marriage Bible by Dennis and Barbara Rainey.

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