"You Are Prepared to Fight"

Marriage is an all-out battle. If you’re reading this years into a difficult marriage, you know how bitter this fight can be. If you’re reading this years into a healthy marriage, you know all the work that goes into keeping a marriage on track. And if you’re reading this at the beginning of your marriage, you should know that it’s not going to be easy. People are difficult. Communication is hard. Life is unrelenting. Worst of all, your own heart is sinful—you are prone to wander (Jer. 17:9). If you want to have a healthy marriage, you’re going to have to fight for it. Fighting for a godly marriage year after year can be exhausting. Often you’re going to feel inadequate. But God has actually given us (already!) everything we need to live godly lives (2 Pet. 1:3). To those who feel weak and tired, be reminded that God has given you enough strength to do it. To those who feel inadequate, be reminded that God is adequate. To those who have no idea what to do next, be reminded that God knows, that He cares, and that He’s right there with you. It’s significant that after insisting that God has given us everything we need, Peter’s next sentence challenges us to “make every effort” to pursue holy living. Being empowered by God does not mean that we sit passively by while our circumstances miraculously change. Rather, it means that God empowers us so that we can get to work. And it means that as we get to work, God will be working through us to make our feeble efforts effective. Discuss with your spouse: Do you feel weary in your marriage? How might God’s promise in 2 Peter 1 help you