Following God’s Recipe for a Successful Marriage
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10 NIV
Hey friend,
If you were going to bake a cake, what is one of the first things you would do? I’m sure you would turn on the oven to let it preheat, which is most definitely a necessary step. But turning on the oven will do no good if you don’t read your recipe first to see what you need. You still won’t have a cake in the oven by just preheating the oven and reading the recipe. No, not by a long shot. The key to baking a successful cake is found in following the recipe, gathering the ingredients listed in the recipe, mixing them all together in the way the recipe says to do, pouring the batter into the cake pan, and placing the pan in the preheated oven for the amount of time the recipe states.
There are many ingredients that go into having a successful marriage – and by successful, I mean having a marriage that is loving, God-honoring, and stands the test of time. One of the main key ingredients is respect. Respect is imperative to both individuals in the marriage but it is especially important to husbands. Scripture gives us insight and added emphasis towards this crucial ingredient.
God instructs husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). However, God instructs wives to respect their husbands just like the body of Christ (the church) does Christ. (Ephesians 5:33) Love and respect are two necessary ingredients for the marriage to operate successfully but each has to operate in the capacity that God designed it in order to reach the full potential that it was designed to reach.
As wives, we can love our husbands in the way we would want to be loved while failing to show them respect but the marriage recipe will be incomplete. Why do you think this is? Because the ingredient wasn’t used properly and failed to reach the potential that it was designed for.
Romans 12:10 gives us clarity on how to navigate relationships, especially our marriage by telling us, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Sweet friend, the Bible is our recipe for every relationship in life and every circumstance we will face. It tells us what ingredients we need to live and operate on this side of eternity. And just like every step needs to be followed when baking a cake in order to enjoy its sweetness, the same must take place in our marriage.
I don’t know if you do this but sometimes I like to experiment with my recipe when baking. Sometimes what I have baked turns out good but sometimes it turns out just horrible. When baking, I have the option to not follow the recipe the way it was designed for - but if I chose to go this route, I will never taste the recipe the way the chef intended for it to be enjoyed.
If we chose to forge our own path in our marriage, using the ingredients that WE want to use and using them the way WE want to use them, the marriage will not operate the way God designed for it to operate. See, He is the master chef - not us. God gives us the recipe in His word for a joy-filled and lasting marriage. It’s up to us to read the recipe and follow it.
God,
Forgive me for not following your recipe for my marriage. Help me to show respect to my husband. Open my eyes to see any areas that I am not respecting him and help me to correct them. Draw us closer to each other and closer to you. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Dig Deeper:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 NIV
Reflect:
What is one thing you can do today to show your husband respect?
If showing respect to your husband is a struggle for you, write out a prayer asking God for help.
Ask God to help you make respecting your husband a priority.