Daily Devotionals

A Call to Worship and Love

Posted in Parenting/Marriage

Scripture: “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Galatians 5:14

 

When you hear the word worship, you may think about singing hymns or listening to a sermon. But what is worship? Worship is your identity and your activity. Romans 1:19-25 teaches us we are worshipers, and our actions and words are motivated by a purpose, revealing to us the reason we do what we do is a result of what we worship. Have you ever thought about worship through the lens of marriage? 

 

It’s interesting to me that my husband doesn’t find it frustrating to leave kitchen cabinets wide open, nor does he enjoy watching a sappy Hallmark movie. What about in your marriage? Do you have things that frustrate you but don’t bother your spouse? Do you have activities you enjoy that your spouse could do without? Our frustrations and discouragement are connected to worship. Paul David Tripp, in his book Marriage, says, “When the Bible says that we are worshipers, it means that every human being lives for something. All of us are digging for treasure. All of us are in pursuit of some kind of dream.” As worshipers, we attach our identity to something- our Creator (a vertical attachment) or creation (a horizontal attachment). 

 

In today’s verse, we see God commanding us to love our neighbor, but we can only do this successfully when we love God more than anything in our lives. In our marriages, our difficulties don’t arise because we don’t love our spouse; rather our difficulties are the result that we don’t love God enough. When we don’t love God enough, we don’t treat our spouse with the grace and love our spouse deserves. When we live in full worship of God, we can serve, celebrate, and love our spouse just as God commands. 

 

Take a glance at your marriage and your own life. Are there things that are motivating you that are not from God and could be causing difficulties in your marriage? Try fixing things vertically by worshiping your Creator before you try to fix things horizontally with creation- your spouse. 

 

Prayer: Lord- I praise You for the gift of marriage. I repent for replacing my attention on things other than you. I ask you to refocus my thoughts and actions. I yield my life to you so I can love others, especially my spouse, as you command. Amen.

 

Submitted by Anna Mills Cox