Marriage Is.....

In the last few months, I have had several friends share with me the disheartening news that they were experiencing terrible marital problems, or on the brink of divorce. Most of them have resulted from their spouses all of a sudden being unsure of their happiness, or even worse, not being in love with them anymore. After experiencing a similar situation, and taking lessons from my experience the second time around, I wanted to throw out some statements that reflect what marriage is to me.

Marriage is LOVE
Marriage is a commitment til death do you part.
Marriage is a two-person bond that requires taking the "YOU" out of the equation (Selflessness)
Marriage means to never be "complacent" or "comfortable"
Marriage is always coming to a compromise
Marriage is hard work
Marriage is like watching a foreign language film, even though there are subtitles, you still don't know whats going on half the time.
Marriage is taking pride in yourself, each of you being healthy
Marriage is an unwritten book
Marriage is staring into your spouse's eyes at least once a day
Marriage is having faith
Marriage is teamwork
Marriage is open-mindness
Marriage is something that needs a protective wall around it at all times (to keep outside influences from coming in)
Marriage is listening
Marriage is happiness
Marriage is honor
Marriage is something that requires patience
Marriage is a chance for you to fall in love with your spouse all over again, every day, for the rest of your life.

My marriage is based on trust, love, God's love for us. However, only one of those can be guaranteed. :)

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
—Ephesians 5:22-33