what could be better than my happiness?
so, i am in the middle of this book. i have found some interesting & amazing quotes that i thought i would share (all of which are quoted in the book). The main point (that i have gotten so far) is that marriage's sole purpose is not to make us happy; it is to make us holy. this is not the be underscored by the idea that they are mutually exclusive - they are not.
"Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate." --W.H. Auden
"romantic love crept into the marriage bed, very stealthily, by centuries, bringing its absurd notions about love as eternal springtime and marriage as a personal adventure meant to provide personal happiness." --Katherine Anne Porter
"Romantic love has no elasticity to it. It can never be stretched; it simply shatters. Mature love, the kind demanded of a good marriage, must stretch, as the sinful human condition is such that all of us bear conflicting emotions." --Gary Thomas
"We must not enter marriage predominantly to be fulfilled, emotionally satisfied, or romantically charged, but rather to become more like Jesus. We must embrace the reality of having our flaws exposed to our partner, and thereby having them exposed to us as well. Sin never seems quite as shocking when it is known only to us; when we see how it looks or sounds to another, it is magnified ten times over." --Gary Thomas
Comments
"Sin never seems quite as shocking when it is known only to us; when we see how it looks or sounds to another, it is magnified ten times over." --Gary Thomas
Sin known only to us is totally shocking. It is the fuel for guilt and prompts us to withdraw from others and from God. The secrecy of sin is the weight behind self condemnation. Despite the knowledge that all sin is common to man there is commonly a disconnect between the knowing and applying that knowledge to a situation.
Confession takes away the power that sin holds. When sin is brought into the open it then has the opportunity to be covered by Grace. Providing your partnership is ordained by God, there is no better earthly place to bring your sin. Who better to encourage and support you than one who loves you and is learning to love like God does? There is no better place than to the one whose desire is to be a reflection of Jesus. The one who can be a reminder of His perfect Grace and apply that to our situation.
My $.02