Day 24: Marriage Builder Tip: The Power of Perseverance - 31 Days: Marriage Devotionals

Scripture Focus: Love . . . never gives up. I Corinthians 13:7-8

Contemporary culture regards marriage as both optional and disposable. If you choose to get married, you shouldn’t worry if it doesn’t work out. You can just get a divorce, start over, and move on with your life. It’s no big deal. It happens all the time.

With that mindset so widespread and pervasive in our culture, it’s no wonder that so many couples give up on marriage when things get tough. After the initial burst of hormones and romance wears off, after the reality of financial stress and difficult children begins to dim the glow of the marriage, one or both partners may decide that the wisest and best course of action is to quit, end the relationship, and walk away.

That kind of choice isn’t biblical. It isn’t wise and it certainly is not what loves does.

Love is tenacious and committed. Love endures difficulty and hangs on tight during times of adversity. Love says, “We’re in this for life, no matter what!” Then having talked the talk, love goes on to walk the walk. Love means what it says.

Love never gives up. Now that we’ve worked with couples and families for several decades, we can tell you dozens, perhaps hundreds, of true stories in which one or both partners was ready to give up, but somehow found the courage to hang on. By the grace of God --- and we mean that literally --- the relationship later improved. Today, in case after case, a healthy marriage exists where once, someone wanted to quit.

We are trained in techniques and methods of counseling, such as Cognitive Processing Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. These are helpful and useful strategies. Yet in the final analysis, the greatest joy comes in watching God invade a hopeless situation with His power and grace. We’ve come to realize that God thrives in hopeless places! God’s power is most visible when the circumstances of life seem most bleak.

For your personal reflection:

• Have you known some success stories such as we describe above?
• Maybe you are living in one yourself. You didn’t quit – you didn’t give up – and over time, God invaded your difficulty and changed your reality. God is like that! Thank Him!

Prayer: Lord, thank You for showing me that love never gives up. I know that in our culture people give up, walk out the door, and don’t return. I want to set a much different example for my family and my friends. I want to show them that love never gives up --- love believes that God exists, and love knows that miracles do happen!