Marriage Moment Monday

Matthew 7:3-5 KJV

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

I am sure there are many times in a marriage when we can see the faults of our spouse. We feel drawn to point out those faults because not only would we like them fixed, but we are their helper and we are supposed to help them become a better person, right? However, that is the wrong way to approach this.

I had someone tell me recently that she hesitates to bring up the faults of her husband not because she doesn't feel it is her place, but because she knows that if she brings up his faults, he will return with tell her what her faults are.

Scripture tells us what to do in this situation! We are to examine our own lives first. Then, when we have taken care of our own faults, we can go to our spouse to talk about his faults. Until we are living right, we can't expect our spouse to graciously take our criticism/advice.

Part of our examining our own lives might involve going to our spouse and asking if they see an area (or areas) where we need to change. If we do this, he might return with his own question about his life. This would be truly helpful for each of us and be a sign of a mature and loving relationship between us. I have to admit that this is NOT easy, but it does help the relationship grow closer together in the end.

Take some time examining your life. Go to God and ask Him what you need to change. If you are ready, go to your spouse and ask him as well. I promise you will see blessings come from focusing on your issues instead of your husband's.