Guarding Your Heart In Your Marriage – Part 2

Author: Cheryl Scruggs

Category: Uncategorized

Divorce Begins With Deception. Lies lure us away from God's plan for marriage, as we depend more on what our culture says rather than what the Bible instructs us. This being the case, why are we so surprised by the number of divorces? by Cheryl Scruggs Marriages ending in divorce are at a pandemic level. Lies lure us away from God's plan for marriage, as we depend more on what our culture says rather than what the Bible instructs us. This being the case, why are we so surprised by the number of divorces?

 Many types of deception lead us into the hands of divorce. Again, John 10:10 reminds us: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy … “, and Satan desires to destroy your marriage. What types of deception are we talking about? When we begin to feel disgruntled in our marriage, negative or faulty thoughts begin to formulate about our spouse or our marriage. We begin to believe the lies swirling through our head. We convince ourselves that “the grass must be greener on the other side”; that “this is not the same man or woman I married”; or that “I must have married the wrong person.” When this begins to happen, it is important to remember 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Many times, blinded by love, we falsely perceive the object of our affection as nearly flawless. Yet in marriage, our weaknesses, and our spouse's, eventually surface.

Deception #1 – We married the wrong person Instead of accepting these “less than attractive” things about our spouse, we often feel duped. We may begin to convince ourselves we married the wrong person. Warning: Allowing these thoughts to fester and penetrate your heart could cause your thoughts to spiral out of control and can set your marriage up for failure! You might begin to pull away from your spouse emotionally and/or physically, without even knowing it. I experienced this. Part of the deception, for me, was not addressing my thoughts properly, and not realizing how I was pulling away. My heart was growing hard, yet I was oblivious. We all, at one time or another, wonder if we married the right person. We must guard our hearts when feeling disconnected from our spouse. If disconnect happens, we often convince ourselves that we somehow messed up and missed out on marrying our “soul mate.” Is there such a thing as a soul mate? A soul mate is someone with whom we can share deep feelings and attitudes. Marriage takes work, and learning to share deep feelings and attitudes is part of the work necessary to enjoy intimacy in marriage. Jeff and I frequently remind other couples that when they got married, their spouse became the right person! According to Scripture, when you said “I do,” you became a one-flesh union, and, “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Matthew 19:6).

Deception #2 – We misunderstand love Often we think we understand what love is supposed to look like, and enter marriage with our own definition. This definition may have been influenced by the examples we had growing up, the shows or movies we watched, the music we listened to or even relationships we've experienced. We tend to spend a great deal of time comparing our fabricated definition of love with the love we think we are experiencing – or not experiencing – in our marriage. How we judge love is often based on our own definition, rather than the Bible's definition.

Deception #3 – We believe we deserve to be happy focusing on our own happiness is a shallow approach, especially compared to God's greater plan for our life. God is OK with us being happy, but His greatest desire is for us to seek Him and glorify Him in all that we say and do. With this in mind, as we seek to glorify God with our lives, joy and contentment become a byproduct of this obedience. I prefer the word contentment over “happy,” because I believe discontentment prevails in our culture. Is it realistic for us to be content in all circumstances? Philippians 4:11(ESV) says: “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” It is possible to be content, but it takes hard work. How does this play into your marriage? When you feel discontent or unhappy, what do you do with it? Do you start making a laundry list of all the things your spouse is doing wrong? Do you emotionally and/or physically disengage? Do you try to fix things by passively addressing it without your spouse knowing of your discontent? Have you ever entertained the idea that you need to examine your own heart? Do you ever go to God with your discontentment and ask Him what He is trying to teach you?

Asking yourself these questions can help you discern your own heart and confront these lies before they potentially destroy your marriage. Why do we believe these lies? Many times, it is because we want to. Romantic movies, TV shows, music – and our sinful thoughts – cause our thinking to become distorted. Many people (yes, Christians) convince themselves that they are hearing a message from God telling them to get out of their marriage, or that there is a better spouse out there for them. They often feel they deserve freedom and happiness. Yet where in the Bible does it say we deserve anything? When and how do we succumb to deception? We are capable of giving way to temptation at anytime. When we do not understand God's plan for marriage, are not reading God's Word, are not in healthy Christian community, are feeling unloved, or are emotionally or physically deprived, we can succumb very easily. Lastly, we must guard ourselves into thinking we are incapable of being deceived.

Posted on February 9, 2013