Bounce Back In Style 2nd Edition Feb/March/April | Page 40

Loving Your Spouse Even When It Is So Hard
by Pastor Jack Surret

Life can be full of amazing times when you give
love to a spouse that does everything worthy of
your love. You give and then you receive and then
you give some more. You both give love at the
same time and in the same way. You both give
love at opposite times and in opposite ways.
There is a rhythm to how love flows and it seems
effortless.

But giving love to a spouse who does very little
worthy of the love you try to give can be one the
hardest things a person can do in life. Trying to
give out more when you get so little in return causes your love tank to run on empty and sometimes
you just don‟t have anything left to give.

You believe in marriage. You want to honor the
vows you have made. You want to do what is right
before God. So you keep trying to love even when
the pain you feel tells you to
stop.

I know this may sound cliché and just Christian
rhetoric, but I have personally experienced the
Lord‟s help in this way. I also had to love my
wife even when it was very hard to love. I still
had to give love even when I faced the worst
pain of rejection and I received no love in return
and I had no reason to believe she would ever
return my love. And to do it I had to have all the
help I could get from the Lord.
So here are three keys for you to allow the Lord
to be your help.

Surrender:
Give it to God. Don‟t even try to do this in your
own strength. Be honest about how hard this is
for you and how much you need the Lord to
help. Surrender your way of thinking, your will,
and your emotions. Draw close to God and let
Him show you how His help
can do more than you ever
thought possible.

So how do you do it?

How do you love your spouse
when it is so hard?

Thank God, if you are a believer there is help for
you. His help has already been made available to
you. You are not in this alone. You don‟t have to
do this in your own strength. Jesus said the Holy
Spirit has been given to us to be our Helper.

John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and
He will give you another Helper, that He
may be with you forever; 17 that is the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know
Him, but you know Him because He abides
with you and will be in you.”

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Psalms 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very
present help in trouble.”

Worship:

Do it for the Lord and not for your spouse. Let
the love you give to your sp