Day 6: Key to Preserving Your Marriage: Being Intentional About Your Focus - 31 Days: Marriage Devotionals

Scripture Focus: Keep your minds focused on things above; not on things of this earth. Colossians 3:2

Contemporary culture bombards us with powerful sights and sounds. We are constantly surrounded by distracting images --- on billboards as we drive, on television screens in our family rooms, and on computer screens as we work or communicate. No matter where we turn, we cannot escape these uninvited guests.

We sit down to watch a family-friendly program --- yet instantly a commercial assaults us with violence, pornography, or the occult. We choose to take our kids out to dinner at a fast-food restaurant --- yet there stands a giant cardboard cut-out of a woman wearing nothing but a tiny bikini --- promoting a new “healthy” sandwich. Somehow, no one walking in the door notices the sandwich!

We have very little control over the images that our culture throws at us. What we can control is our focus. A friend of ours, very happily married, keeps his wife’s picture as the wallpaper on his computer. Every time he sits down at the computer, the first image that forms on his screen is his wife’s smiling face. “Kind of keeps me honest,” our friend says with a grin. “And it helps me stay victorious over temptation.”

These days, both men and women face visual temptations and distractions. When we make our life partner the primary focus of our attention – visual and otherwise – we help guard our hearts, increase our affections, and deepen our relationship.

One key to victorious living is this: Choosing where to place our focus. Although we may be constantly enticed by many distractions, we can learn to focus our thoughts in good and helpful ways. We can train our attention to center itself on the one we love. This visual and mental discipline improves the quality of our life together.

For your personal reflection:

• When and where do you find yourself distracted by unwanted or unhelpful images? How do you respond?
• What specific steps can you take to guard yourself against distractions?
• Are you ready to begin narrowing your focus, so that your life partner occupies the center of your attention – consistently?

Prayer: Lord, I am alive in an unholy world. Things I have seen and heard can affect me for years later, both when I am awake and also in my dreams. Please teach me to keep myself away from distractions as much as possible. Please help me guard my focus, and please help me consistently uphold my life partner with my full attention.