God Changed My Marriage!

One of the things we learn when we begin our faith journey is that the husband should be the spiritual leader of the home.  It is engrained in us that the husband is the head of the family, and as such has the role of leading them.  

Ephesians 5:22-26 says:  Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.  
 

Though, I have found that some have taken this out of context.  It seems like wives believe that if their husband doesn't go to church or believe, that they must follow that, even if they want to live in Christ.  They feel that the Bible instructs them to follow their husband, no matter what.  However, this isn't true.  If you read the first verse again, it says "Wives, submit to your own husband as to the Lord".   This doesn't mean to submit to your husband in place of the Lord, but in the same way.  You should still submit to the Lord first, even if your husband doesn't.

My marriage is living proof of the work God can do, if we truly live for Him and allow His work in our lives.  When I first started following Christ, and truly following - not just going through the motions - my husband wasn't so much into it.  He would go to church with me, though mostly just to go along with me, not for himself.  I started going to Celebrate Recovery and he stayed home with the kids.  My spiritual walk was not along side or behind his, it was in a completely different direction.

I started my journey feeling guilty for stepping out in faith before him.  I worried, for a long time, that I was going to "out-grow" him and feel unequally yolked because I was wanting to be so faithful to Christ.  Though, what I found happened was exactly the opposite.  It didn't happen overnight, but because of my faith and trust in God, things began to change. 

Little by little I could see the change in my husband, the change his heart began to make in him.  He started having in-depth discussions with me about the messages we heard at church.  He took lead on teaching our children to pray at meal times.  He started praying and reading the Bible more.  Before I knew it, he was leading me to things I hadn't yet done or considered.  He was taking his place as the spiritual leader!  

Now, a couple years later, I see the blessings God worked in our lives and marriage because I first stepped out in faith and began my walk with Christ.  And though I have witnessed these things over that time, this morning I woke up to find a note he made in our Bible app on a study he is doing.  It really put it into perspective, reminding me of where we started.  So, don't take my word for it, read my husband's words:


                  "Marriage isn't something that is successful naturally. You have to work hard at it and trust in the Lord. It is through Him that your marriage will succeed and without Him that your marriage will fail. I know this from experience. The more we soak our marriage in the Lord's words the closer we become and the stronger our marriage becomes. It doesn't mean we both started on this road together, however. My wife was the fortunate one to start her walk with Christ before me. She didn't make me walk with her, rather she kept on her path and simply prayed for me and our marriage. I began my walk with Christ because I was shown His grace and His blessings with open eyes finally. I had gone to church for years off/on before that, but I had never really gone to purposefully take in His words to apply it to my life. I pray that God continues to bless my family and that through us He helps us expose others to His blessings. Amen."


I can't even begin to describe the joy that filled me as I read his words.  I trusted God in one of the most difficult times of my life, and He has surely blessed me through my marriage.  My husband is the most amazing gift from God and I thank Him daily for allowing us to grow in His word, together!  
 If you are a wife who's husband doesn't follow Christ, don't let that hold you back from living in faith yourself.  Let God lead you and He WILL figure out the rest too!  Don't miss out on Christ's love out of worry or fear of "out-growing" your spouse.  Keep faithful in prayer and He will answer.  

I pray for all marriages to find the grace and blessings we've found through Christ's love!