Family Focus
LOVE ALWAYS PROTECTS Dr. Stephen & Alex Kendrick
Love always protects. 1 Corinthians 13:7 NIV
Marriages are made up of many things, including joys, sorrows, successes, and failures. But when you think about what you want marriage to be like, the furthest thing from your mind is a battleground.
However, there are some battles you should be more than willing to fight. These are battles that pertain to protecting your spouse.
Unfortunately your marriage has enemies out there. They come in different forms and use different strategies, but nonetheless, they will conspire to destroy your relationship unless you know how to ward them off.
Some are clever and seem attractive, only to undermine your love and appreciation for one another. Others try to lure your heart away from your spouse by feeding you unhealthy fantasies and unrealistic comparisons. It’s a battle you must wage to protect your marriage—when love puts on armor and picks up a sword to defend its own. Your mate and your marriage need your constant protection from things like:
Harmful influences. Are you allowing certain habits to poison your home? The internet and television can be productive and enjoyable additions to your life, but they can also bring in destructive content and drain away precious hours from your family.
The same thing goes for work schedules that keep you separated from each other for unhealthy amounts of time. You can’t protect your home when you’re rarely there, nor when you’re relationally disconnected. You have to fight to keep the balance right.
Unhealthy relationships. Not everyone has the material to be a good friend. Not every man you hunt and fish with speaks wisely when it comes to matters of marriage. Not every woman in your lunch group has a good perspective on commitment and priorities.
In fact, anyone who undermines your marriage does not deserve to be given the title of “friend.” And certainly you must be on guard at all times from allowing opposite-sex relationship at work, the gym, or even the church to draw you emotionally away from the one to whom you’ve already given your heart.