Living a Marriage Filled with Grace .II

II. "It's Grace That Has Saved Us", For by it is, we have "the source of salvation.

"For the grace of God, the source of salvation for all men, has been manifested." Titus 2:11

It wasn't our prayers that saved us, it was God's grace. When you understand the importance of God's grace, even your testimony will change. It's not your fasting and prayers that move God to act in your life, but it's by His grace alone or that He responds to you. If you understand the concept of God's grace, your prayers will become more effective.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
Often when people get together, they have false conceptions at the root, they think they're going to have a problem-free relationship, and very often as soon as the first problem arises, they separate just because they haven't understood the notion of grace and mercy.

True love isn't actually earned. When you want someone to deserve your love, that would mean you're mean and don't actually have love in you, but rather you're a man or woman of interest, which is why you're often wrong in your judgments. It's also why you often fall for the wrong people in your relationships, because you don't know grace or mercy.

You must give your spouse the blessings and favors he or she doesn't deserve. You must be able to make your spouse experience grace in the relationship. Anyone who is looking for the other person to earn their love is not a good spouse.

Grace and mercy protect the relationship. You must understand this, because grace and mercy will determine the degree of love you will have and experience, it's a divine principle. He who is forgiven little loves little, he who is forgiven much loves much in return. It was on this principle that I understood that I should forgive my wife for all her past, present and future mistakes. Even the mistakes my wife hasn't yet made, I've already forgiven her, and she's already done the same for me, as we did on the day we made covenant, asking the Lord Jesus Christ to be the foundation and rock of our relationship. This is a divine principle, for it is Jesus Christ himself who is its author.

Often, those who have never made a mistake in their lives tend to look down on those who have a few weaknesses, and are genuinely unable to sympathize with the shortcomings of others, but when someone has had to make mistakes in their life, and has been forgiven for them, they easily sympathize with the pain of others and become increasingly humble. But the person who has always been first and never failed in life thinks that all those who fail are not intelligent. Anyone who has failed at least once in his or her life will be better able to advise someone who has taken a false step, and will easily pick them up again.

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins were forgiven: for she loved much. But He who is forgiven little loves little." Luke 7:47

Grace and mercy consist in forgiving and loving even before we meet the person. Jesus Christ loved us from before the foundation of the world. He saved us, that is, he gave us grace and mercy even before we were born; he died for our sins even before we committed the first sin of our lives. And it's only natural that today we love him in return. It's the result of grace and mercy.

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John 1:17

Living a grace-filled marriage simply means reflecting the image of Christ in all its fullness in your marriage.

Shalom!

Pasteur Clémentine