If you can’t live at peace with you spouse you won’t have a chance to live at peace with others. This past weekend Kellie and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. It has been a wonderful 11 years. And I am so grateful to God that he sustains peace in our relationship.
Whenever friends get married and ask for a piece of advice, I always give the same counsel. Don’t go to bed angry. The Bible says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26). It is a pretty simple command to understand, but it isn’t easy to do it. Before Kellie and I were married we promised each other that we would never go to sleep angry. For 11 years we have kept that promise. But it hasn’t been easy. We have had some really late nights. Granted we don’t always come to a full resolution of the problem before we go to sleep, but we deal with our anger so that while we may not agree we do go to sleep at peace with each other.
It makes all the difference in the world when you wake up free from anger or bitterness. As we seek to live at peace with those around us, may we be sure to give all of our energy to living at peace with the one closest.
Full agreement with you brother. And yes … Jaime and I have had some pretty late nights too! Recently, we’ve been working through Paul Tripp’s Marriage DVD series with a small group of couples called, “What Did You Expect?” — Redeeming the Realities of Marriage. It’s been very helpful … I highly recommend it.
Kellie and I recently read Paul Tripp’s book How People Change with our small group. It has been immensely helpful for our marriage.
Dustin, Janelle and I talked about this last night. I think this will be tough, but we are going to take your advice and make this commitment.
Ps. tell Kellie thanks for buying the Sambusa last night. Those things are delicious.
Good for you Matt. With God’s help it is doable. And it is worth it!
And yes, that sambusa was good.