Simple Analogies

by - October 11, 2011


Have you noticed how I keep comparing marriage to other relationships and making very simplistic analogies? So far I’ve used: fairy tales, building a house and the relationship between the architect and the contractor, a Jiff Peanut Butter commercial, movie stardom and a baseball team.
I am not trying to over-simplify marriage, but I am trying to simplify it.
I know I’ve shown you our natural, fallen tendencies, but they don’t insure imminent failure. A healthy marriage doesn’t have to be as hard as we think it is. It’s not this elusive thing out there that we can never achieve, and that’s what I’m trying to show you with these analogies.
If you look at teamwork couched on the playing field, it seems easy. When you look at different roles and shared responsibilities for boys craving the last of the peanut butter, it’s obvious. When we see submission in the context of following blueprints, it is not regarded as disdainful, but desirable.
It doesn’t have to be hard. Leadership doesn’t have to be the super star; submission is not the before picture of Cinderella and therefore the consolation prize. We have complicated every aspect of God’s design for marriage. In order for two to become one, there has to be leadership and submission, and God gets to pick who gets which half, just like in the Jiff commercial.  It's that simple.
We make ourselves out to be so complicated, our histories and personalities too nuanced and complex. I don’t mean to be unsympathetic, but I don’t want to hear, “But you don’t know what I’m dealing with,” because my answer would be, “Yes, I do, it’s called a sin nature – a pair of them to be exact.”
This is us using illusion and enlarged ego to escalate and over–complicate and make something out of nothing.  In reality, we are people, male and female, with roles to fill as husband and wife, and a God to empower us in our proper position and thus propel us toward marital success and the ultimate analogy. He does this to bring glory to Himself.
God gives us the rules, forgiveness and grace when we miss the mark, and tomorrow for another stab at it. This is not rocket science. This is everything we need to succeed and no excuse not to. And it’s not our own happiness at stake. It’s God’s glory.
Take Home: Are you blowing things out of proportion in your marriage to avoid fixing the problems?
Are you willing to humble yourself and enact a simple plan for a successful solution?

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2 comments

  1. Some days it's easier to humble myself than other days; sad, but true.

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  2. Just exactly what I needed today! I was in the midst of that "Yeah, but see what I have to deal with..." and it is not fun. I am choosing to make life harder for myself. Thank you for this!

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