"When you choose...

"...the pathway of irrevocable commitment to your mate and your marriage-regardless of how troubled your relationship may seem-you will find that choice leading you into a place of agape love and peace and personal growth.  These are just some of the rewards, for the chances are very good that you will also be able to enjoy the blessings that God has wanted to bestow on your marriage from the beginning.  


I am not suggesting that the healing of a marriage is an easy process when one person resists it.  But are any easy choices open to you, after all?  Torn relationships involve pain, whatever you do about them.  As Peter points out in his first letter, it is far better to suffer (if suffer you must) for doing right, than for doing wrong.  He makes it clear that God's favor and blessing shine on the one who patiently suffers, if necessary, in order to do His will.  Meeting your marriage problems in a biblical manner is productive rather than pointless, and whatever hurts you encounter will be less damaging than the long term effects of divorce would be.


"The very word divorce should be cut out of the vocabulary of a couple when they marry," a woman with a restored marriage said, "because God's way is so much better for anyone who is willing to give it a try."


Another woman, considering the turbulent events of the past year that had driven her to grow emotionally and spiritually while she "loved her husband back" to their marriage, said, "You know, it's all been gain for me.  I'm a different person now.  The process was humbling, but it was worth it!"


A man said, "During the time when I was trying to win my wife's love and hold our family together, sometimes I got so tired of rejection that I didn't feel anything except a determination to do what the Bible said and leave the results with God.  The only thing I was sure of was that somehow God would work it out for my good because He promised that in His Word.  I never imagined the love affair He has actually given us.  He really does do more than we can ask or think!"  Ed Wheat, M.D. in "How to Save Your Marriage Alone"