The Love Dare book refers to several different things from which we need to protect ourselves, our spouses and our marriages.
- Harmful influences: Things like the television, the internet and excessive work hours are all things that drain time from our family. You can't protect your home if you are too busy watching television or if you aren't home.
- Unhealthy relationships: Don't we all have a friend or two that aren't good influences? These "friends" can often have different views and comments about commitment, priorities, marriage, etc. We should also constantly be aware of opposite-sex relationships. It's easy to become emtionally involved with someone who pays extra attention to you and can draw you away from your spouse.
- Shame: This goes back to keeping our spouse's deepest darkest secrets and never speaking negatively of them to our friends or family. Our love can hide the faults of others and can cover their shame. There is no call for us to discuss the faults of our spouse with anyone. That should be private.
- Parasites: Our pastor preached on this very subject and mentioned that things we don't think of as being parasites are exactly that. Parasites can be as small as the television and as great as drugs or pornography. No matter how big or small, a parasite sucks and sucks and sucks and eventually will drain you.
According to the Bible a "wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands" (Proverbs 14:1). It our job as a wife to protect our marriage. We can't let things lead us away by watching television or reading books that give us unrealistic expectations for our husband. It is our husband's job to be the head of the home. God puts that responsibility on our husbands and they are responsible for guarding our home and standing up for us against anything that might threaten us. Neither of these "jobs" are easy, but they are God-given and we should take them very seriously. We must answer to God for our actions.
Day 23 Dare: Remove anything that is hindering your relationship, any addiction or influence that's stealing your heart away from your spouse.
I'm especially notorious for blogging each night. This doesn't just mean that I get on the computer and blog about my family, but I also read others' blogs. It's so easy to get caught up in the drama of the lives of others, but realistically, it's stealing time away from my husband. I'm trying to be a lot better about choosing times that Matt isn't around to do my blogging. I'm trying to use Saturdays when my kids are napping and Matt's at the farm to catch up on everything.
Lord, please help me to keep my focus on my marriage and to remove anything that could hinder my relationship. Amen.
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