Challies put up an article on Monday just after his eleventh wedding anniversary that was a very real look at marriage through the device of wanting to give his younger newly married self some counseling.
the whole thing is good, but I thought this part was especially helpful because so many people have unrealistic ideas of the marriage relationship:
Prepare to Hurt and Be Hurt!. One of the greatest ironies and the greatest tragedies of marriage is that a husband and wife have more opportunities to sin against one another than against anyone else in all the world. Over the course of eleven years of marriage, I have hurt Aileen more than anyone else and have sinned against her more than I’ve sinned again anyone else. I suppose this means that marriage also offers unparalleled opportunities to extend forgiveness and to choose to overlook sin. While Aileen and I have had our share of struggles over the years, I truly believe that we carry no bitterness toward one another. Through God’s grace we have offered and received forgiveness time and time again. And through his grace we have overlooked many an offense. Yet there have been many occasions when we have hurt one another and when we have let this wounds fester for just a little too long.
If I could go back, I would prepare myself to be hurt and, even more, would seek to emphasize kindness and forbearance and grace so that I could hurt my wife far less often.
that is why I Peter 4:8 says “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”
I can tell you after 20 years of married life that in a marriage there are many many sins that will need to be covered by fervent love. It is when you let your love grow cold that bitterness grows. Once bitterness takes hold of your heart, it is very difficult to uproot, so that love can flourish again.
The writer of Hebrews warned against ever letting the root of bitterness grow and prescribed the grace of God as the preventative. “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.”
“covering a multitude of sins” means “not letting bitterness grow”.
Keep fervent in your love. How? Communication? In response to my words, “Communication is the key to any relationship.”, my husband said, “You just say that because you are a communicator.” ha.
Sometimes I think this is too tricky to get right. My husband also says, “you think too much.” Hmmm… How does one stop thinking? hmmm…I’ll let you know if I “think” of an answer to these things.