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The Real Connection Between Your Marriage and Your Relationship with God

I learnt the most powerful thing about marriage last Sunday: "marriage is a test-run for your eternal relationship with God". My pastor might not have realised the impact of his words or the lasting effect it would have on me, but boy, did it hit home.

Recently, I've had recurrent issues in my relationship - issues that frequently take me to my knees (I sometimes make the mistake of forgetting to take them ALL!). In particular, lately, I've been praying the 1 Corinthians 13 prayer - Lord, help me to patient, kind, keep no record of wrongs... I'm still praying this prayer, but with a different outlook - and end goal. 

Marriage - yours and mine - should be a mirror/reflection of our relationship with God. Developing patience, kindness, compassion, gentility, loyalty and all these other wonderful attributes isn't just for our earthly relationships - they cross over to our relationship with God. If we ask and let the Holy Spirit work within us to change us, it's to benefit our relationship with God, primarily. It's about God.

So, when my partner gets on my nerves or hurts me badly, my decision to be patient and kind to him in return, instead of being horrible (which, really, is often the first choice) isn't just for him or the sake of our relationship; it's for a greater good. God will never hurt us or be nasty to us, but when I pray for something and don't get it for two years, for instance, having great big patient muscles will definitely come in handy - because I've built it up over the years with my man!

At the end of the day, everything in our lives is designed to make you more like Jesus - our career, education, relationship, projects, everything. We either don't realise it or often forget it; but when this truth truly registers and we take time out to reflect on it, it will change our lives forever.

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