Holiness vs. Happiness

Hubby and I attend a Bible Study on Tuesday nights with 4 other couples. I love this group of people. We were talking about God's plan for marriage and had come to the conclusion that it was not created for happiness, but for holiness. All of the wonderful responses that I received from my post requesting prayer for my marriage reminded me of this (how could I have forgotten so quickly?!) My role is to reflect the love of Jesus to my spouse regardless of what I get from him. Holiness is God's plan for my life despite my longings for happiness...it's a maturing process that draws me into a more intimate relationship with God. I'm going to say to myself every morning during my quiet time "It's not about me, it's about God...It's not my happiness that He wants but my Holiness, my Heart, my Life." Thanks everyone!!

Praise God Denise for such a wonderful revelation!! One thing I thought of while reading your post was this: Did you know that no where in the bible God COMMANDS the woman to love the man? Ever wonder why? Women follow by example. The bible says that husbands are supposed to love their wives as Christ loved the church. When a husband loves like that, we have no choice but to reflect that love back to him. Isn't that amazing? Isn't God amazing? Love, Dawn

Hi Denise, I think this is the first time we have "met". My pastor is also doing a series on marriage right now. He has done 2 separate sermons on the roles of the husband and the wife. He was pretty easy on the wives admittedly. In a nut shell he said that we need to shut up, pray for our husbands, love and respect them....and let God handle the rest. He also said that we need to respect our husbands by not talking bad about them and by building them up whenever we see an opportunity. In all honesty, this is a struggle for me. What you said about holiness vs. happiness really hit home for me today. However, it is sad to think that we may never be happy in our marriages. I will be praying that you and I both get this thing right and God WILL take care of the rest. Nice to meet you! Love, Jacinda

Wow, Denise, thanks for sharing that. I needed to hear this today. God bless you, Wanda

Hi Denise, God is so good. You are so blessed to have a group of freinds to come together and uplift each others marriages. Isn't it great to have that accountability. My husband and I belonged to a small group at our church before he "turned away" from God. You are right on with your thoughts on marriage. It's not about us, it's about HIM. I do believe in reaping what you sow, and sometimes I believe we will just get to reap in heaven what we have sown here on earth. I am going to post about a similar situation. Love, Darlene