From Pride to Humility: Running towards a Christ-Centered Marriage

He irritated me that day while we were out on a run.

Our family hadn’t been out of the house to exercise in quite some time.  We were cooped up in our tiny home because the weather was well in the triple digits for several weeks.

We were all home, all the time.  We lived in our home.  Home-schooled in our home.  Ran a business in our home.  And managed a ministry in the home. Needless to say, all four of us were getting on each other’s last nerves!

I thought the idea of getting out of the house would be wonderful for our family, and add exercise to the mix, it might even lower the irritability meter.

Or so I thought…

Until I was running, and then I became hot and tired.

And then my Beloved snapped at me and the kids… and I snapped back as I told him he was snapping at us.  (Have you ever been in a cycle like this?)

He was wrong.

And well, that must have meant I was right, right? 🙂

I was annoyed.

Next thing I know he is no longer running beside me.  Without a word, he turned around and headed back home.

Seriously?

Fine.  Now I can run in peace, or so I thought.  No Christ-follower who is outside of the will of God can ignore the convictions of the Holy Spirit.  Here I thought I would be running in peace and quiet, but God kept convicting me of my sin!

The Lord’s words pierced my soul…

“Daughter, your words may have been true and accurate, but your tone and attitude were not pleasing to me.”

Ugh!

My pride just fueled my anger based on the entire conversation I had with my husband.

But I couldn’t ignore my Lord’s words.

“You’re in sin.  You’ve disrespected him.  You need to apologize.”

And let the wife see that she respects her husband.  Ephesians 5:33

Deep sigh…

It was a long run back home.  Very long.

My pride-filled tail was tucked between my legs as I headed up that long walk of a drive-way.

My flesh was reluctant to humble itself as I reached the front door.  I wanted to justify my position.  Slant the words so I could win the argument.  And tell him he was off.  Way off!

But my spirit wanted to obey my Lord.  (Otherwise if I choose not to listen to Him, He wouldn’t be my Lord, now would He?)

Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.  Proverbs 13:10 (NLT)

Sometimes I don’t want to take God’s advice, yet He is all wisdom.  He knows what we need in marriage.

So I said to my Beloved, “I’m sorry honey, will you forgive me for my disrespectful tone and attitude?”

I want a Christ-centered marriage, so I’m going to choose humility over pride.  It’s certainly not the easiest choice, but it is the God-honoring choice.

They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.  Titus 3:2

I’m choosing to be a wife who shows humility to her husband.  How about you?  You wanna join me in this pursuit? 🙂

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Live a poured out life for Christ,

 

Need some encouragement and guidance in your marriage?  Grab my latest book, Wives of the Bible:  25 Easy Lessons You Can Learn from these Imperfect Women that Will Radically Transform Your Marriage.