The best relationship advice I've ever received!

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The best relationship  advice I have ever received  is:

When we say our wedding vows, we say them to our partner before God. We joyfully pledge to love our partner, and when we do so before God, He becomes the "pledge-collector", expecting us to make our daily deposits without basing on how good or bad our partner is on whatever day.

Allow me to back that up with this fact:

When your partner cheats on you and you also decide to cheat on them in revenge, when you go to heaven you can't say, "You see God, I only cheated on my wife because she cheated on me first!" No, my friend. In that case, when adulterers and the sexually immoral are to be sent to hell, you might as well be one of them if you don't repent.

This tells me that our debt to love and be faithful  to our partner is not collected by our partner but by God. Let's say you beat your spouse so badly and your spouse forgives you, your debt might not be cancelled unless you personally repent to God too. You made the vow to your spouse, but you need forgiveness  not only from her/him but also from the Lord who was your witness on the day of the vows. 

This reminds me of 2 Samuel 12:13, which says:

Then David confessed to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan replied, "Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won't die for this sin.

Which came after king David had killed and taken his soldier Uriah's wife.

Now, one might think, "Mmh! No please, you have wronged your wife to start with; your soldier (you killed him?) and your soldier's parents, just to mention but a few..."

 

King David knew that asking for forgiveness from our fellowmen is good, but even better, asking God, the pledge-collector, to forgive your failure to make that day's full pledge-fulfillment.

Why you do something usually determines how long you will be able to do it.

Most of us have used this passionless statement before, "Am only doing it for my mum or my parents or my friend."

"Am only doing it for my wife/husband" usually can't sustain us because when they anger us, we can quickly stop being faithful to them, since they now seem or become undeserving. 

People of God in the Bible  knew this, they knew that yes, we sin against our fellows, but we owe our faithfulness to God above all. 

When we understand that being faithful to our partner or staying pure is for the sake of God and our relationship with Him, we'll realize that even when our partner doesn't deserve it, we shall stay on track because we do it for God.

Have you seen people who are very passionate about serving God, they can fast 14 days straight with zero food or drink, they can even walk very long distances in pilgrimage, but fall at the matter of faithfulness? Maybe it's because they are doing that part for their spouses?

Sometimes you find young men behaving  in a certain way when they are with their girlfriends, and in another way in their girlfriends' absence, simply because they intend to prove being "respectful" before their girlfriends and not unto God or to the pledge/commitment they have set for themselves.

"I would never cheat on my partner!" We often say, but how about, "I would hate to sin against God in the area of unfaithfulness."?

Hey single man/woman, you are not doing your future wife/husband a favour by keeping sexually pure, you are doing yourself a favour.

Hey husband/wife, you are not doing your spouse a favour by staying faithful, you are doing yourself  a favour.

I believe our relationships will get far better when each individual is trying their best to love the other for the sake of God, rather than always trying to find faults in how our partner is failing at paying their pledge or fulfilling their commitments.

It's yet another beautiful Wednesday.

Thank you! Thank you!