Diligence in marriage
Marriage is the most difficult work in the world because it is about two imperfect people with different temperaments, sexuality, life experience and beliefs who pledge to share their lives for life.
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It demands effective communication, support, appreciation, prayer, unconditional love and forgiveness.
Another important agent for a fulfilling marriage is diligence and persistence. Some see it as being steady,earnest and energetic and painstaking work and application to accomplish an undertaking.
In the Bible, diligence also means to be prudent (plan ahead, forecast, prepare, anticipate), to be wise (learn from experience, deeply ponder) and to do this consistently (anytime all the time).
Importance of diligence in marriage
The habit of being diligent eventually brings impressive achievement in your work, marriage and family life. It helps you to achieve your goals and makes favourable impressions on all around you. It makes your marriage and family life fruitful. Therefore, if you make persistent effort with hard work towards the accomplishment of your goals in marriage, you will be successful in what your do. Diligence is a blessing in disguise.
Diligence is a virtue which combines hard work and patience because persistence requires patience. It is one of the most important attributes of a person. It is a heavenly gift endowed upon us. Diligence is needed in all spheres of life, especially in marriage which is the greatest gift of God because it has amazing benefits including being the basic unit of the Church and the society. It is therefore a privilege to have it.
A good marriage requires diligence. On the other hand, there are no pleasures in sitting idle. You have to be active to keep your marriage happy and fruitful. Be persistent and make hard work the focus in your marriage.
Some ways to be diligent in your marriage
Put God first: Your marriage belongs to God because He is the author of all marriage. God calls you into marriage to serve Him by what you do for your spouse. You need God to help you succeed in your marriage. Therefore spend time with God in prayer and meditation on His word.
Pray without ceasing: Prayer is God’s gift to us as His children to fellowship with Him. In prayer, we speak to God and acknowledge that we depend on Him to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. Prayer is a weapon to overcome the devil, our only enemy. It enables us to present our requests to God and to strengthen our relationship with Him. It is the most basic expression of our faith in God. It is our lifeline to God. There is power in prayer like oxygen that fills your lungs with every breath we take. It keeps our relationship with God and our marriages. Prayer energises our marriages as we receive power from God. It enables us to know God’s will and direction for our marriage. Prayer gives us mercy and grace in times of difficulties.
It heals us physically, mentally and spiritually. If you want to receive from God, then you must ask Him in prayer. If you pray according to God’s will by faith, He hears you and if He hears you, He answers you.
Read the Bible every day: The 66 books of the Bible were composed over a period of about 1500 years in three different continents —Africa, Asia and Europe by over 40 different authors in three different languages ;Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The authors had remarkably different educational and cultural backgrounds. Joshua was a military general. Daniel was a prime minister and Paul a tent maker. David was a shepherd while Luke was a doctor.
John and Peter were fishermen while Nehemiah was a court servant. The wonder is that, the Bible has survived history, with historical and scientific precision to predict the future.
No human spirit could have written the Bible. Instead, God must have inspired the writers to come out with something so consistent, harmonious and trustworthy. The Bible is God’s gift of His nature and promises to us and we must abide by it. You know God’s promises through His word in the Bible which is the infallible word of God.
God’s word is God Himself and He speaks to us through His word. It is a divinely inspired book for the ages and food for our soul. It is a blessing for those who revere it. It produces faith in our hearts and as a food basket it nourishes us throughout our lives. It is the standard for making decisions and forming opinions in every area of life. Ignorance of the scriptures is therefore ignorance of God and His plan for your life.
The Bible is food for the soul because it gives spiritual growth as we crave for it and receive it. It is only through reading His word that we come to establish a strong relationship with Him to know his thoughts, plans and promises. For example, through His word you get to know that His divine power has given us everything we need for life, including our marriages.
God commands us to read His word constantly so that we may learn to revere Him and follow carefully His words. God’s will for us is good, acceptable and perfect. If there is anything in life that sustains a wise person and helps him to maintain serenity around the difficulties in marriage, it is first and foremost the knowledge of the scriptures which gives God’s blueprint for success in marriage. Continuously seek God and draw nearer to Him because He is the rewarder of those who seek Him. Spending time with God brings positive influence in a marriage.