Are you making every effort?

This past week I have felt a sadness in my heart because of the events in the marriage of John and Kate Gosselin. I have been watching the show from the beginning and have enjoyed seeing the "reality" in the every day events of their family. I was encouraged to see them speaking openly about the difficulty of parenting and marriage but also proclaiming a dependence of God as their strength. After last season, I was starting to feel a correction in my heart that the way Kate treated her husband was not a good example for the way a "wife of noble character" should act. If they were proclaiming Jesus I was getting scared at what those who are not strong in faith might think about Christian wives.

I have gone through a range of emotion many of which have been judgmental and unforgiving. As I struggled with why this was bothering me the Lord spoke to me today and this is what He showed me. If my husband had not been so committed to me and our family this is how our marriage could have ended as well. I was a prideful, controlling wife, who sought my own agenda and not my husbands. Wow! I was just like Kate. Only by God's mercy and grace am I still married today and actually finding joy with my husband! I am grateful that my husband stuck with me and has endured with me as we have both grown and changed.

The Lord gave me a wonderful reminder through Romans 14. In the passage he says:

vs 12 each of us will give an account of himself to God

vs 13 let us stop passing judgment on one another

vs 19 make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification

This was a great reminder that I am not the judge of others, God is and He will ask for an account when our lives are over. As I live on earth I am called to make EVERY effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification. These verses are clearly written to show that our responsibility to our husbands, our children and those around us is chose to let God be the judge and to love others in a way that shows we are making EVERY effort to live at peace. Jesus is the perfect example of surrendering His own will unto the Father by getting on the cross and allowing himself to be crucified. Because of His sacrifice, we can have everlasting life and happiness with Him. In light of Christ sacrifice, my daily efforts (only by the help of the Lord) to make peace and live for mutual edification in my marriage are small in comparison.

Making every effort one day at a time,
Annie