~Appreciate Your Spouse~Buoyancy in Marriage~Consult Your Partner~
~Dream Together Part One ~Dream Together Part Two~Empower Your Spouse~
~Have Fun With Your Spouse~Give to One Another~Honor Each Other~
~Be Intentional~Jubilee~Kingdom Focused~Listen~~Mentor Relationships~Nourish~Own It~
~Pray With Each Other~Quick to Listen~Read Together~Selfless~Teamwork~
~Uplift~Vulnerable~Worship~X in a Healthy Marriage~Yield~
More Than Anyone Else – Matt’s Thoughts
If you were anything like me when you were getting to know your future spouse, you did whatever it took to spend time with him/her. You arranged and rearranged your schedule to be together. You had difficulty going separate ways when life demanded that of you. You talked on the phone (or emailed/texted depending on what era we’re talking about) when you couldn’t be face to face. Your “sweetie” (or insert nickname here) was constantly in your thoughts and you couldn’t wait to be together again. The world revolved around that one person that made you whole. You were zealous.
Do you have zeal for your spouse today?
Who do you want to be with more than anyone else? A famous person? A person of great influence? A genius? A genie?
No! You want to be with your spouse more than anyone in the world.
After the “I Do” – Laura’s Thoughts
Clearly, the way you showed zeal toward your beloved when you were dating is going to look different than the way you show your zeal now that you’re married. I’ve heard my share of advice about how you should be sure and date your spouse once a week, or how you need to be sure and remember all the things you used to do when you were wooing each other during courtship. Don’t hear me saying that these aren’t ideas that hold some merit. Continued dating once you’re married is a valuable thing. Wooing each other after marriage is sweet and necessary.
But married zeal runs deeper than dating and sweet words.
It means that you seek to know how to best meet his/her needs, and that you lovingly and eagerly pursue ways to meet those needs. It means that you work hard to build your spouse up so that he/she can be a better servant for God’s kingdom.
Married zeal comes in the form of a selfless love and an urgent desire to lift your loved one to a seat of joy. It may mean that you need to do something you don’t want to do – but you zealously do it anyway because your love for your spouse comes before your own desires to run away from a difficult situation. (I’m talking about everything from a dirty diaper to a painful decision and beyond.)
We all have zeal toward something or someone. Where are you focusing your zeal? Is it in the work place? Is it in your desire to become successful or wealthy? Is it in having the perfect home and the most sharply dressed children?
Or are you zealous in your love for your spouse? Are you daily showing your beloved, with your eyes and your attitude, that you have chosen him/her above all else?
Ladies, we know you’re reading here more often than the guys. ;) We’d love husbands to read this article as well. If you feel so inclined please send the link to your husbands, or if it’s easier, we’ve created a downloadable article for you to quickly print off and share. A to Z – Zeal
Tiffani says
Great point, Laura! “Married zeal runs much deeper than dating zeal” How many couples are out there searching for the past instead of embracing the future. The zeal my husband and I have now (after almost 20 years) is soooo much better than that “dating zeal”.
Thanks for sharing!! Happy New Year!!
Dara says
Whoooo! I wanted to stand up and clap for this one! :) thank you guys for writing this & sharing it… and have a great new year of zealousness!
Shirley Newton says
Thanks for posting this. Even with 46 years of marriage I need to be reminded.