Daily Devotion

“But you must realize that it isn't ultimately your spouse who is exposing the sinfulness of your heart—it's marriage itself. Marriage does not so much bring you into confrontation with your spouse as confront you with yourself. Marriage shows you a realistic, unflattering picture of who you are and then takes you by the scruff of the neck and forces you to pay attention to it. This may sound discouraging, but it is really the road to liberation.”

Timothy Keller · Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage (New York: Dutton, 2011)

Scripture

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, being reflected with unveiled faces into the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his likeness from glory to glory, as from the Spirit of the Lord.

Reflection

Marriage often reveals our shortcomings and self-centeredness, but it is precisely in these conflicts and adjustments that God's hand shapes us. If we are willing to open our hearts and gaze upon the glory of the Lord, we can be continually transformed in our relationships, becoming more and more like Christ. True happiness does not come from the perfection of our partner, but from being renewed, softened, and grown by God in love. Marriage is God's holy workshop where we learn to love, forgive, and obey.