LOSE YOUR LIFE
Do you know what it means to lay down your life in your marriage? For many of you reading this, that may be easy to answer, but I bet it’s not always easy to practice. Many marriages end because it’s a whole lot easier to live for yourself than it is to sacrifice anything for the sake of another. Only, the problem with living for yourself is that you will never truly find life until you give it away. Recorded in the gospels, Jesus said, “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” How many of you know when we find someone, not something, to die for, we gain the life and love we so desperately desire.
NOT AN ACCIDENT
I’ve been married to the woman of my dreams for 45 years, and we’ve been together for 50 years total. People often ask me how Kathy & I have stayed together for so long. I’ll tell you our secret: we know when to sacrifice pleasure for the pursuit of joy—this is the discipline of laying down your life for another.
A practical example of this is when people find out we have horses. They say, “Oh wow, Kris, you have horses!” My response to them goes something like this, “No, I don’t have horses. Kathy has horses. I only pay for the horses.” Their next question for me usually is, “Don’t you like horses?” To which I respond, “No, I don’t like horses, but I like Kathy.”You see, I get a lot of joy out of doing what Kathy wants to do. I am willing to sacrifice my own pleasure to pursue what develops joy in our marriage. It’s not one-sided, Kathy does the same for me. Joy in marriage doesn’t happen by accident, it’s developed on purpose by those who have learned how to lay down their life for the other. It’s true that when you trade pleasure for joy it can sometimes be challenging, but with that exchange, you’ll gain life with the one you love that’s rich and abundant. I go in depth on laying down your life for those you love in this sermon clip I pulled for you. Check it out save if you want to save your spouse or your future husband or wife a load of pressure and anxiety.
ACTIVATE JOY TODAY
Many marriages and relationships are suffering right now due to the prolonged effects of this pandemic. Patience is wearing thin and ironically, even though we are spending considerably more time together than ever before, our loved ones can still experience surmounting loneliness. With that being said, what would it be like if all of us, every day, made an effort to lay down our lives so that someone else could experience life? What if we stopped chasing the pleasure we could get out of our relationships and started pursuing the joy we could have in them?
I want to issue a challenge to you this week: Love someone without selfish ambition. In other words, look for ways to give without getting in return. If you’re married then I’d start with your spouse. If you’re single, then take a look at your relationships with your closest friends and family.No matter what’s going on around us, we can experience the bliss of joy that lies in laying your life down for those you love.
I’d love to hear your testimonies of losing your life to find it and I’d also love to hear how this week’s challenge made a difference in your relationships, so share them with me in the comments below!
Featured
Learn More
Hi Kris. Great article. I don’t normally leave comments, but I am compelled to. I am also going to read this article again because it is rich in truth and clear in application. Just a heads up that I plan to share it with others as well. – Derick Harris