Family Matters, Week 1

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." 1 Corinthians 13:11

Today we started our new series, Family Matters, with a look at marriage. I have heard a lot of marriage sermons during my time in the church, but this one meant a little something different to me. This was the first time I've actually been married when hearing a marriage sermon.

I have been married about three months and three weeks... so clearly I'm an expert. Not really, but in that short time I've had a chance to reflect on what is different. For me, there have been plenty of adjustments — and not just because I moved to a new job, city, and state right after getting married.

I think what stood out to me, when reading 1 Corinthians 13, considered the ultimate passage on love, was the verse I started this entry with. It comes down to maturity. In order to thrive in marriage, you have to be mature; you have to think about someone over yourself.

I was single for my whole adult life, and for the last four years before getting married I even lived on my own. I was my own master, I kept my own schedule, and I had everything the way I liked it. A child is unable to get past that me-first way of living. To make a marriage work, you have to be a man, set aside that mindset, and consider others.

I am not perfect at this, but I like to think I'm making strides. Marriage takes work, compromise, and a lot grace. That's what today's message and passage reminded me.