How to Biblically Depend on your Spouse in Three Steps

     

What if God asked you to replace His name with the name of your spouse in Proverbs 3:5

 “Trust in _______ with all thine heart." 

Trusting our spouse with all our heart requires a certain

dependence. God created humans to depend upon each other, especially in marriage. Noted marriage mentor Jimmy Evans says, “A strong, healthy marriage requires a husband and wife to both depend upon each other.” How do we trust our spouse with everything we got? We must embrace the plan of dependence established in Genesis 2:18. God said “It is not good that the man should be alone,” and he created woman as his help meet. If men are dependent on women, conversely, women are dependent on men.

Three steps to establishing dependence in a biblical-patterned marriage:

1. Leave behind all relationships. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother” says Genesis 2:24, letting go of our former lives as sons and daughters. Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University wrote “’Leaving’ means all lesser relationships must give way to the newly formed marital relationship. A leaving must occur to cement a covenant relationship of husband and wife.”

2. Cleave to each other. Webster’s dictionary defines ‘cleave’ as adhering to loyally and unwavering. Trust in your spouse as if your life depends on them. You should make your spouse know you need them.

3. Become one flesh. Does consummating a marriage make two people “one flesh”? Becoming one flesh goes beyond the bedroom. Couples learn and respect each others personalities and habits.  They know each others thoughts, feel each others emotions and grow into one inseparable unit.

The process takes time! Dependence happens gradually, it's not immediate or automatic. I've been processed for the past 27 years and still learning. I've heard “Practice makes perfect!”

Practicing every day,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap