Model for Marriage

“The more you invest in a marriage, the more valuable it becomes.”

– Amy Grant, singer, songwriter, author

Have you ever considered that your relationship with your kids could be a model for your relationship with your spouse?  Think about it: you nurture your kids, you challenge them, and you forgive them. You probably have high standards, yet you understand when those standards can’t be met. As a parent, you give, and give, and give – and amazingly, without any return expectations, you receive incredible love and joy, and you become a better person.  After all, do you know of any parent who wouldn’t claim that raising kids helped them, the parent, become more humble, accepting, loving and forgiving? 

Of course your spouse is not as dependent or needy as your kids, but that does not mean the opportunities to give and receive are any less.   Marriage probably provides you your best opportunity to become the person God wants you to be, if you approach it in a way that you give and give and give to your spouse without any sort of scorecard for what you receive.