Even Good Marriages Need the Rewarded Cycle
When I first began teaching the biblical truth of the Rewarded Cycle as it pertains to marriage, I was unsure how people would receive it. Amazingly, many welcomed the Rewarded Cycle enthusiastically. Those who feel hopeless suddenly catch the truth that what they do matters to God; nothing is wasted. This thought not only rejuvenates poor marriages, but it is helpful to good marriages. The key principle of the Rewarded Cycle is just as relevant for a good marriage as a poor one. Ultimately, all husbands and wives should be practicing Love and Respect principles first and foremost out of obedience toward Christ. If they do not, it is so easy to start being arrogantly proud about “our great marriage.”
We all need to take heed! Those who think they stand could easily fall. So many marriages seem to be getting along just great and then, wham! The wheels come off. If we take our eyes off Christ (or never put our eyes on Christ in the first place), we are building on sand, and when the storms come we can be swept away (see Matthew 7:24-27).
Another benefit of the Rewarded Cycle for a good marriage is that you can understand why you are treating each other as you do and be more equipped to explain the Love and Respect Connection to other couples. And as other couples learn the Love and Respect Connection, the rewards increase exponentially.
What are the rewards? We get some of them on earth, but we get an incredible reward in heaven. More on that next time!
~Emerson
Excerpts taken from Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.