Deepening Your Marriage
Applying Marriage to the Truths of I Corinthians 13
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“Seeketh not her own” means that love does not insist on her own way; it is unselfish. When one has God’s love ruling their hearts then they will not be full of thoughts of self. One sure way we can know that the Holy Spirit is in the driver’s seat of our hearts is when we have taken our focus off of self.
Not seeking your own means that you have your mind on others. Over and over again the Bible tells us to take the attention off ourselves and put our focus on others and their welfare. Rom 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” Philippians 2:3b-4 says in part “…but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” In all things we ought to think about the needs of others (I John 3:17); we should seek to make others prosperous, and not ourselves(1 Cor.10:24); we ought not to be a stumbling block to others, even if it means we refrain from doing something that is biblically okay (Rom. 14:15-16); we should have great patience with others (Eph. 4:2); share their burdens (Gal.6:2); please others (Rom.15:1-3, I Cor.10:33); care for their things as we would our own and even better (Phil.2:4)!
And what should be the driving force for us to put others’ needs above our own? “For the love of Christ constraineth us…And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” 2 Cor. 5:14-15 The love of Christ constrains me. It compels me! It motivates me to yield to the Spirit who lives within and thus allows His love to control me. And that love never focuses on self! That love, by its very nature, pours out to others because it is a love for others not self!
I believe that the amount of our selfishness is a barometer of our closeness to God. The more we put self first, the less we put God first. The less we put God first, the further away we get from Him - the less our fellowship with Him, and the shallower will be our relationship with Him resulting in a lessening of our focus on others.
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About the Book
No matter how good a marriage is, it must keep on growing if it is to remain happy and fulfilling. This study takes the truths of I Corinthians 13 and applies them to the wife’s relationship to her husband. Each chapter takes one thought, analyzes that thought, and then matches it up to Jesus’s character. Finally, it puts those truths to work in your marriage in ways that become real, causing good marriages to be enriched and struggling marriages to be helped.
About the Author
Jilene has loved to study and meditate on scripture most of her adult life. Her joy for God’s Word has led her to conduct ladies’ Bible studies for over 30 years. She and her husband attend Eagles Heights Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO. They have been married for forty-five years and have three daughters, all of whom are serving in full time ministries with their husbands, and thirteen grandchildren. Jilene received her BSN from the University of North Dakota. After serving as a nurse for several years she became active in the church’s music ministry and has remained in that capacity for more than twenty-five years. Her greatest love is God’s Word.