How to Protect Your Marriage

There are the most Chapters designated for Commitment #6: We will work to protect our marriage.

That didn’t just happened. I believe Paul Tripp intentionally gave this commitment the most attention out of all the commitments. Why?

Because the only way we can truly protect our marriage is by depending on God’s radical grace to help us and we need a sense of urgency to know the life of our marriage depends on Him. Once we think “we got this,” or “we don’t need God,” or “we are too far gone to receive God’s grace,” our marriages are out there left to be choked out by the cares of the world. The good news for us it that our Heavenly Father is waiting at the bit for us to come to Him with our marriages, so He may work and form us to who He has already created us to be, as individuals and as a unified couple.

The Power of Prayer

When we think about what we are called to as a husband or wife, sometimes it can become overwhelming. We can easily feel intimidated how we should love our spouses and everything that comes with having family. There really is no way for us, as fallen, and imperfect humans, to live up to how we are to love well all the time in our own strength. I have tried and that maaayybbeee lasts about an hour. By conjuring our own efforts to be a good wife or good husband, we will continue to run into the “not good enough,” wall.

But when we get on our knees, and pray, and acknowledge God, we open ourselves up for His love to flow through us and out through our fingertips. We need God in our marriages. We need His strength, His protection, His love, to show up in each of our hearts as spouses so it can show up mutually in our marriages.

The Author of Our Story

The context of our marriages is God. He controls everything that goes around, in, in front, and behind it. He is never not present in our marriages. When we pray, we are then in the context of why our marriage was formed in the first place. We realize the reality and power of marriage. We our sourced with power from Him to love well and endure through the hardest places. If we leave Him out of the picture, our story falls apart at the seams. Stitch by stitch, our story begins to unravel where it use to bind together and ultimately becomes destroyed.

But we don’t have to leave our stories destroyed. With God, He is a Redeeming and Restoring Author. He re-writes love stories back to life, and makes it even more beautiful than it was before. Remember…the only way that is possible is with God! Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. He will always listen and fight on our behalf, but we need to bring our marriages to His feet and lay them down with everything attached. All our honest inadequacies, all our failures, our joys, and our hopes. And then we get the privilege to wait on Him to keep His promises to us and watch Him move.

Finals Encouragements

Take this week to pray. Pray intentionally and simply. Sometimes we try to find the right words and “get it right” and that can easily feel overwhelming. I encourage you to either pray for one different thing in your marriage everyday for this week. Or pray for one thing and the same thing every day of the week. Write down what you prayed for in a journal, then watch how God answers you.

AUTHOR OF THE MARRIAGE SERIES: Taylor Wild

Note: We do not hold degrees in psychology, nor are we doctors, but people who have a heart to share wisdom.

IF YOU LIKE THE EXPERIENCE SEEN IN THESE PICTURES YOU CAN BOOK YOUR MEMORY MAKING WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER TODAY!

Many thanks to the wedding creative team who helped in the celebration of two souls committing the promise of forever:

Ceremony Venue: VENUE AT THE GROVE

Reception Venue: VENUE AT THE GROVE

Photographer: APRIL MAURA PHOTOGRAPHY

Caterer: ENSEMBLE CATERING

Florist: WILD CHILD FLORAL DESIGN

Dress: BHLDN (both dresses)

Make-up/Hair: HALEY WEAVER @beauty.dresseraz for hair

Bride’s Jewelry: earrings, special handkerchief from her grandma (around bouquet)

Bride’s Hairpiece: ZARA

Bride’s Shoes brand: BADGLEY MISCHKA  (both pairs)

Bridesmaid dresses: various stores

Groom’s attire: CALVIN KLEIN

Groom’s tie/bow-tie: CALVIN KLEIN

DJ: INFINITY ENTERTAINMENT

Guest’s favors: We are donating money to an organization Salt River Foundations or Animal Society

Wedding Cake: MY GOODNESS CAKES

Calligraphy: Calligraphy: Erin Ross @elmross

Wedding Rings: SHANE CO