Day 36: Love Teaches, Love Learns

⁴That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, Titus 2:4

Head: A woman that has been married 40 years can minister to someone that has only been married 6 months and a woman that has been married 9 years can minister to someone that has been married 7 years.  It's our duty as women to teach each other what we have learned from God and our experiences should be shared.  These days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find role models of marriage as God intends.  A woman, who has been only with her husband and has spent many years, not giving up and finding happiness for them both along their journey through life is a woman that God describes as a jewel to her husband, women that are worth more than rubies (Proverbs 31).  These are the godly women we should be looking too in times of need in our marriage. 

Heart: A few years ago I was listening to a woman talk about her marriage, how see felt stuck, wanted out, didn't know where to turn or what to do.  So, she called her mom up on the phone for advice.  The only problem was her mom had recently blindsided her second husband with divorce and was living with her new boyfriend.  My first thought was; there has to be someone better to give advice even if it is your mom.  Later, I heard the statistic that 1:2 marriages are ending in divorce today.  40 years ago that statistic was 1:50.  So, I had to consider, how does the experience of our "family" and our "friends" affect our marriage?  Is it a bitter cycle?  Do we not have free will and control over our own decisions?  The Bible instructs us women to teach the younger generations how to love their husbands.  Are the older generations really failing us?

Today I also heard an amazing lady on the radio named Barbara Wilson.  Her message and ministry were amazing to hear.  She has written several books about  how ones sexual past affects our marriages and how God can release women  from those bonds in order to move forward in their marriages.  I encourage anyone who has a sexual past outside of their current marriage to listen to her message and read her books.  She is a woman who is ministering to other women and a shining example of some one who is doing what God wants in Titus 2:4.  Using the Bible, prayer and her own life; she shows us how we can be free from our past mistakes or experiences in order to help our marriages move forward. 

God wants us to seek advice from others, we just need to be selective about who we take advice from.  Mostly importantly, we should be taking advice from God and His Word.  His Word is the final say

Hands:  Make a list of ladies you know who you can seek counsel with on marriage in times of need.  List the reasons you think those women are pillars to look up to.  When the time comes you will have them to talk to.