A Hedge For Marriage

 As I was doing my morning devotional today, I was reading Ephesians 5:22-33, which are the Biblical instructions for a marriage. These are the verses that talk about submitting to husbands and husbands loving their wives like Christ loved the church. This devotional was talking about the grass sometimes looking greener on the other side of the fence, but that faithfulness to God and commitment to your spouse, will bring peace of mind and satisfaction and you don't need the other side of the fence. 

The person writing the devotional shared that there are six actions that can put hedges around your marriage and help to protect it from the outside influences that lead to the extramarital affairs. I thought that these suggestions were a great piece of advice and wanted to share them here. All young married couples should seek these hedges. 

H- Hear- give a listening ear to your spouse. 

E- Encourage - build up your spouse by focusing on positive qualities.

D- Date - celebrate your marriage by playing and laughing together no matter what.

G- Guard - establish safeguards by setting clear boundaries.

E- Educate - study your mate to truly understand him or her.

S- Satisfy - meet each other's needs.

I feel like many times in marriages, we forget that the other spouse has good qualities and advice that we should listen to. I think that life interferes with dating, or it does not feel needed after being married awhile. Many times, we forget that we need to speak encouraging and kind words, as they may be our sounding board for all that we feel is wrong, but we aren't perfect as well. 

Setting boundaries in a marriage may seem like control to some, but I believe that each spouse has an idea of ways that they would not want their spouse to act around others or do, and these are important to know. I do not think a married man should ever put himself in a spot where he could be seduced by another female and that has been an issue in my marriage. My husband has a much younger female friend that was a coworker that he would take off roading with him and they would sleep in our trailer together and it led to many issues between us. I don't believe a husband should defend a female that is making unkind remarks to his wife- no matter what the reason is or if it is just her personality. Even phone calls could be issues it is excessive between a husband or wife and coworker or friend. 

Keeping your marriage pure and knowing what is acceptable to the spouse are the best ways to stay on your side of the fence. Being respectful and kind and listening and encouraging to one another is loving your spouse as God loves the church.