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(Sacred Marriage: What if God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More than to Make Us Happy? by Gary Thomas) Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Copyright -Gary L. Thomas, 2000.
What marriage has done for me is hold up a mirror to my sin. It forces me to face myself honestly and consider my character flaws, selfishness, and anti-Christian attitudes, encouraging me to be sanctified and cleansed and to grow in godliness.
Kathleen and Thomas Hart write, "Sometimes what is hard to take in the first years of marriage is not what we find out about our partner, but what we find out about ourselves. As one young woman who had been married about a year said, 'I always thought of myself as a patient and forgiving person. Then I began to wonder if that was just because I had never before gotten close to anyone. In marriage, when John and I began . . . dealing with differences, I saw how small and unforgiving I could be. I discovered a hardness in me I had never experienced before.'"5
5. Hart and Hart, The First Two Years of Marriage, 50.
p. 93
The same conclusion could be made about marriage. Every marriage has sorrows. Every marriage has trials. There isn't a shared bedroom in this country where tension doesn't occasionally or perhaps frequently lift its snarling head. Many a pillow has been a solemn receptacle for soul-felt tears, cried late at night or even all throughout the day. We don't get to choose which sorrows or trials we are called to bear, only that we must endure them.
p. 145
(Christ/Life by Ruth Myers) Sisters, OR: Multnomah. Copyright - Ruth Myers, 2005.
As we'll discover more fully, the Bible shows us the truth about ourselves. Each of us is (a) unique and wonderful, (b) flawed and morally guilty, and (c) fully dependent on God. Each of us has been uniquely engineered by God for success, but has also been given limitations and weaknesses. It's important therefore that we accept this full reality about ourselves, and not just the parts we like!
Accepting ourselves doesn't imply approving everything about ourselves. It means simply that we admit the kind of person we are-our gifts and strong points, our weaknesses and limitations, and our predominant needs.
p. 16
Lord God, You are my Liberator and Savior. Thank You for setting me
free from the disabling power of sin and death, and giving me a life
of fresh, new boldness in You. Help me to rise up and soar ever
higher in this new liberty. I know that the more I give You
the controls of my life, the freer I will be.
As I consider how limited and vulnerable I am, how encouraging
it is to hear You say, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength
is made perfect in weakness"! In new ways may Your power rest
upon me and govern me, so I can say with confidence,
"When I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Thank You that I'm on the winning side; I'm an eternal victor
with You. I can face the future with boldness and without fear,
knowing that You will give the strength I need to be an
overcomer in any trial that comes my way.
Thank You especially for Your wise and trustworthy guidance, as day
by day You lead me in paths of righteousness for Your name's sake.
Father, enable me to stand on these truths boldly and consistently,
with an ever-growing confidence in You.
p. 161
(31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew by Ruth Myers) Sisters, Oregon: Questar. Copyright - Warren and Ruth Myers, 1994.
I praise You for Your sovereignty over the broad events of my life and over the details. With You, nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental, and no experience is wasted. You hold in Your own power my breath of life and all my destiny. And every trial that You allow to happen is a platform on which You reveal Yourself, showing Your love and power, both to me and to others looking on. Thank You that I can move into the future non-defensively, with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, for You hold the future and You will always be with me, even to my old age . . . and through all eternity.
pp. 50-51
(The Beautiful Fight: Surrendering to the Transforming Presence of God Every Day of Your Life by Gary Thomas) Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Copyright- Gary L. Thomas, 2007.
Father, forgive me for ever thinking that my hands are my own or that my feet are servants to do my bidding. Make them holy instruments, willing apostles, of your kingdom work. Help me, Lord, to experience what your servant Paul wrote about when he said that your energy worked so powerfully in him. I no longer want to work for you, Father: I want to work with you. I want the power of the risen Christ to lift me above my limitations and set me free to glorify your name above and beyond all I can think or imagine. Lord, take my hands, take my feet, and make them yours. Sanctify them for your service. In Jesus' name. Amen.
p. 137
(31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew by Ruth Myers) Sisters, Oregon: Questar. Copyright - Warren and Ruth Myers, 1994.
Lord, I'm Yours. Whatever the cost may be, may Your will be done in my life. I realize I'm not here on earth to do my own thing, or to seek my own fulfillment or my own glory. I'm not here to indulge my desires, to increase my possessions, to impress people, to be popular, to prove I'm somebody important, or to promote myself. I'm not here even to be relevant or successful by human standards. I'm here to please You.
I offer myself to You, for You are worthy. All that I am or hope to be, I owe to You. I'm Yours by creation, and every day I receive from You life and breath and all things. And I'm Yours because You bought me, and the price You paid was the precious blood of Christ. You alone, the Triune God, are worthy to be my Lord and Master. I yield to You, my gracious and glorious heavenly Father; to the Lord Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me; to the Holy Spirit and His gracious influence and empowering.
All that I am and all that I have I give to You.
I give You any rebellion in me, that resists doing Your will. I give You my pride and self-dependence, that tell me I can do Your will in my own power if I try hard enough. I give You my fears, that tell me I'll never be able to do Your will in some areas of life. I consent to let You energize me . . . to create within me, moment by moment, both the desire and the power to do Your will.
I give You my body and each of its members . . . my entire inner being: my mind, my emotional life, my will . . . my loved ones . . . my marriage or my hopes for marriage . . . my abilities and gifts . . . my strengths and weaknesses . . . my health . . . my status (high or low) . . . my possessions . . . my past, my present and my future . . . when and how I'll go Home.
I'm here to love You, to obey You, to glorify You. O my Beloved, may I be a joy to You!
pp. 155-7 | 
