Delight Yourself.

Today I read a blog by John Piper describing marriage as a self-seeking way to gain joy. Um what? Over the past year I've viewed marriage as anything but self-seeking. I've tried time and time again to pour out myself and deny myself to better serve my husband. And of course the reason that hard times come is that we are selfish people.

Yet, John Piper argues that our selfishness need not create a troublesome marriage. In fact, it ought to create a delightful one.

Us being selfish means us seeking our own desires. And our own desires are happiness, love, comfort, etc. {all things considered in a Christian walk}.

But how can we fulfill these desires? How can we feel loved or comforted by our spouse? By pleasing them. Pleasing and delighting one another is ultimately pleasing and delighting ourselves. By serving our spouses we may be denying ourselves temporarily, but we are gaining a more joyful and loving marriage overall.

All this to say, sometimes marriage can feel a bit one-sided. We may feel like we're giving up so much or sacrificing so much for our spouse. But in doing this, we're ultimately gaining so much for ourselves. By delighting our spouses we are delighting ourselves.

And what is more, is that this is what GOD delights in! For us to seek pleasure for our spouses and also gain pleasure for ourselves, is glorifying to God. He wants us to find marriage joyful and sanctifying.

So all you married people out there, go delight yourself :)

Ephesians 5
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."