As we have been exploring what God intended marriage to be like in our current teaching series: Marriage: Renewing the Wonder in God’s Design, I found the above video that serves as a beautiful picture of God’s design in marriage to drive us to dependence on God. The process goes something like this: One, we depend on God through obeying Him in how we think and act toward our partner (in other words we obey God regardless of how we are treated by our spouse); two, our dependence/need for God in our marriage grows; three, we are then shaped (over time) in the character and priorities of Jesus Christ given that this is the same dynamic used by Jesus as He depended on the Father through His life. As a result, your spouse (imperfections and all!) is seen as a gift from God for your sanctification and not your satisfaction. Although, over time, your sanctification toward God will lead to greater levels of satisfaction in your spouse. Want to see what this might look like after years of maturing?

Background to the video:
Dr. Robert H. Mounce (husband in video), president emeritus of Whitworth College, has served as an important biblical commentator (especially on the book of Revelation in the NICNT series) and as a Bible translator (involved early on in the translation of the NIV and serving on the translation committee of the ESV—where he served with his son Bill, author of the widely used Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar). Bill Mounce writes:

“I wish I could share some of the emails Dad has sent to me and to his grandkids. Wonderful musings on the end of life, on what love is, and especially on his thoughts about prayer. Do you pray that the Lord take her home (which mom wants) and end her pain—or do you pray for strength and God’s will? Dad told me the other day that he has come to see mom’s extended illness at the end of her life as her final gift to him so that he could learn at even a deeper level what love is. Ah, that we should all finish life this well.”

HT