Matthew 6:30-33 (NLT)
And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
There is this long-standing myth that says marriage is a 50/50 proposition. When people make that statement, they are basically saying that they will do their part if the other person does his/her part. However, God expects us to do our part 100 percent of the time. It’s not about comparing ourselves to how our partner performs, but how we personally perform according to God’s Word. God’s Word is our measuring stick, not our mate.
How should you respond when our spouse doesn’t do his 100 percent? In every area of our life, we have to put our faith to work, and that certainly includes our marriage. Our faith in God is a 24/7 lifestyle. And for what are we believing? That even when our mate falls down on the job, God will make up the difference and make sure that our needs are met.
Whenever a couple is having serious trouble in their relationship, it’s important to ask the question, “What part am I playing in the cause of all these problems?” Many times, we have to admit that in large part, the problems we have in marriage are due to our desire to make sure our own needs are being met rather than concentrating those of our partner’s.
We have a hard time with not putting ourselves first because we don’t really trust that, if we focus on our mate’s needs, our needs will, indeed, be met. So, we think it’s important to take care of #1. I do not believe that you should neglect yourself, by any means, but YOU cannot be your main purpose.
If you are trusting in your mate to meet your needs, you may very well be disappointed; yet we are also not to put our trust in ourselves, either. We are to trust God. He is the One who will make sure we are well taken care of. The care and consideration we give to our spouse may not be reciprocated, but that does not give us license to stop doing it. Either we are going to trust God or not. He is faithful! He is faithful! He is faithful! And He will prove it if we give Him the opportunity.
Marriage Adventure 