JOY IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CHARACTERIZE a genuine love relationship. It characterizes every courtship and should be very much in the couple’s life in Marriage.
I remember how joyful and happy I was during my courtship with my wife. After returning from work, I’d look at her pictures that were in my photo Album again. I never got tired of seeing those pictures. Those were the days of letters and postage stamps.
I remember one time, I wrote a letter to her every day. Infact, I was so filled with affection for her that I wrote about two of those letters on my knees! Isn’t love powerful? Well, once I finished each letter, I headed to the distant Post Office to post it. That done, I returned home thinking that I was done with writing my Sweetheart. But the next day, LOVE would inspire me to pen a new epistle. There was always so much to say. And I’d head for the distant Post Office. So it was that, I wrote seven letters in one week and went to the Post Office seven times in that week. Each trip to the Post Office was with joy.
And as it turned out, all the seven letters got to her local church on the same Sunday. As people waited for the announcement of Letters at the end of the worship service, the Church Mail Runner started his job. When he got to my Sweetheart’s letters, behold they were lumped together unknown to him. And he began announcing them. As my wife would collect one and head for her seat, he’d announce another one. And then another. And then another. And yet another. Until the whole church erupted in a loud and hearty applause for the girl who set the record of getting so many letters at once on a Sunday morning! And I wonder if any one in that Church has broken that record till date. That’s what joyful love can do. It might cost you who’s giving but will decorate and beautify your LOVER who’s at the receiving end. And the power that drives such Love is JOY.
The Bible tells us that Jacob’s love for Rachel was so intense and so strong that the seven years of labouring for her father as dowry were like a few short days. Joyful love made him “immune” to the pains of trekking long distances daily as an unpaid Shepherd.
Joyful Love makes time fly. It casts out fear. It engenders hope of a bright and glorious future. Joyful Love makes you focus on the jolly side of your relationship experiences rather than the adversities you’ve faced.
It was tough for Jesus our Lord to face the harrowing torture of crucifixion and the emotional pains from the shame of hanging completely naked in public but something gave Him the strength to overcome: JOY. The joy that millions of souls would be saved as a result of His suffering and painful death!(Hebrews 12:2)
There’s great Power in JOY. That’s why in Nehemiah, the people of God were told not to sorrow but to be joyful because the Joy of the Lord is our STRENGTH!(Nehemiah 8:10)
And this is why God commands husbands in our anchor scripture to REJOICE WITH THE WIFE OF THEIR YOUTH!
No matter what besets you in the course of your marital journey, refuse to let go of JOYFUL LOVE AND JOYFUL LIVING. They’re so important to the well-being of your marriage.
In Ecclesiastes chapter 9 we see a similar command:
“LIVE JOYFULLY WITH THE WIFE WHOM THOUGH LOVEST” (Ecclesiastes 9:9A)
So, it’s not enough that you’re still living together and not separated or divorced. God insists on JOYFUL LIVING because it’s a secret to a formidable matrimony. And just as we have seen in our anchor scripture taken from Proverbs 5:18B, the husband is the one given the responsibility of igniting joyful living in the marriage union. Even in Ecclesiastes 9: 10A, the husband is the one tasked with ensuring joyful living in Marriage.
These commands are simply saying that your marriage will not be joyful unless you DO SOMETHING about it. You must daily bring into it those things that create a joyful atmosphere between A MAN AND A WOMAN.
Now, do you really need to think for long to know the things that spark excitement between a red-blooded man and a red-blooded woman? Of course, you don’t! This is because you see these things around you almost every day; even though the ones you see are mostly illicit lovers. Yet you can learn from them. What do they do? They’re ROMANTIC, isn’t it? They GO OUTDOORS, right? They’re NOT ASHAMED to be seen HOLDING HANDS on the street. They’re of GOOD BEHAVIOUR towards each other. They use ENTERTAINMENT (food and drinks) to brighten and heighten their mood, right? THEY DRESS WELL, SMELL SWEET and above all THEY ENTHUSIASTICALLY GIVE THEIR BODIES TO EACH OTHER. Go home and do likewise!!! Don’t wait until your marriage anniversary or birthdays to do it. Yes, don’t do it occasionally but all the time and there’ll consistently be JOYFUL LOVE in your marriage.
Living joyfully with each other requires being devoted to one another. During courtship, you were devoted to each other and that’s why your love for each other kept growing and soaring higher. In Marriage you must endeavour not only to maintain the momentum but to increase it. Kindly permit me to use myself as example.
After we got married, there was a burning desire in my heart to love my wife MORE. This desire was so intense that even after we already had two kids, I at a time read Ephesians 5:25-33 as my morning devotion portion continually for two weeks while away from home on a journey. I wasn’t teaching Marriage yet and I had no idea that God would call me to minister to married couples.
Even after marriage, I never tired of looking at my wife’s pictures even though the very woman was living right under my roof. I had no less than two of her pictures in my Bible. I glued a picture of her to the wall on my side of the bed. I composed no less than 15 Songs about her and singing those songs in her absence almost brought her right where I was. Through singing about her, I experienced first hand the power of love songs.
As you can see, nothing goes for nothing. There’s something YOU MUST DO to retain joyful love in your marriage.
Forget the mistakes and faults of one another and REJOICE WITH EACH OTHER NOW knowing that after sometime, death will come calling to bring the relationship to an end. So make hay while the sun shines! Write each other love letters. Write poems, compose love songs for each other. Get an Artist to paint a portrait of your Spouse’s picture and gift it to them. Doing such things will keep joyful love alive and burning bright in your marriage!
🔥🔥🔥 FAITH DECREE:
🔥 LET THE DESIRE TO JOYFULLY LOVE THEIR SPOUSE MORE AND MORE BE POURED INTO THE HEART OF EVERY READER OF THIS DEVOTIONAL PIECE!⚡
🍷🍗 TAKE-HOME LESSON: ENDEAVOUR TO BE JOYFULLY IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER EVERY NEW DAY. THIS IS POSSIBLE AS YOU GIVE OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD IN PROVERBS 5: 18B AND ECCLESIASTES 9: 10A
💕❤️ TONIGHT’S ONE FLESH ASSIGNMENT IN THE BEDROOM
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