Chapter 2 – The Power for Marriage
Every marriage faces challenges. This chapter explains why we face challenges and how to get through them without experiencing damage to the relationship. Keller opens with a passage of scripture:
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” – Ephesians 5:21
A person who submits to another out of reverence for Christ is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is what empowers that person to humbly serve another. The power for marriage is the power of the Holy Spirit working within one’s life. Keller explains on page 51, “Only if you have learned to serve others by the power of the Holy Spirit will you have the power to face the challenges of marriage.”
God’s Holy Spirit is active, radically changing us at our core; helping us to understand the truths about Jesus, transforming us to be more like Him.
Husbands and wives are called to submit to each other, and to consider one another better then themselves. (Phil. 2:2-3) It is difficult to do this because our sinful nature is selfish, however with the Holy Spirit empowering us we can serve our spouse better. Keller states on page 53:
“Whether we are husband or wife, we are not to live for ourselves but for the other. And that is the hardest, yet single most important function of being a husband or a wife in marriage.” Read the rest of this entry »
The sun had just about gone past the horizon. The sky still reflected its light, although it was fading into night. My husband and I finished dinner when he invited me to join him for a brisk walk. I had been quiet since I picked him up for work. My body must have been experiencing an overload of anxiety… I feared conversation thinking it would prompt anger or tears. He knew that something was troubling me, and as much as he desired to know what it was, he also knew to approach me gently.
There was a series my Pastor taught on a while back on Spiritual warfare. We had been going through a series based on the book of Ephesians. He said something in his sermon that really stood out to me. Here is what he said, paraphrased:
Dear 
