".....love believes all things, hopes all things."- 1 Corintthians 13:7
WOW! I am so excited about todays message and DARE! It really put things into a different perspective when it comes to valuing ur spouse and ur relationship. So it here it goes!
Picture in "love" ur heart having 2 private rooms. On the doors of each room are signs. One door says'"APPRECIATION ROOM" and the other is entitled' "DEPRECIATION ROOM,"
In the beginning of ur relationship u develop this "Appreciation Room" first, so we will star there. Envision u going to this room and u open the doors and its this big beautiful and bright amazing room...its warm and lit up with the sun light beaming through the windows. Inside this room our words written on the walls in beauitful writing. Its all words of encouragement. This room is developed when ur love for ur spouse begins and just flourish's. You have only positive things to say. All over are ur thoughts of them written on the walls of ur heart. Words like, "loyal", "honest", "hardworker", "gorgeous" "strong" "beautiful eyes" "compassionate" etc...they are all things u have discovered about ur husband or wife that have been embedded in ur mind and heart. When u think of all those things ur appreciation for that person grows and increases. The more time u meditate on those attributes the more grateful u r for them.
Most of those attributes that were placed in the APPRECIATION ROOM were most likely written in the initial stages of the relationship. Then after being married u begin to get distracted by other things and that door closes and u visit the room less and less. Instead u focus on more negative attributes. This would be the DEPRECIATION ROOM.
So now these other walls have been built through frustrations, let downs, pain, betrayals and u now have created another room. Envision opening this door and its dark with a dim candlelight. The walls are black and there are no windows. U can feel this room has no joy. Its empty and suffocating. On these walls in bright red lettering are sad and angry words like, "selfish", "jerk", "lazy", "fat", "liar", "un-loving", etc. These are those negative thoughts that developed through hardships, stresses, and just day to day life. These are words of bitterness that spread on these walls like a disease. This is the room most of us choose to stay in...its so dark that we see no way out. But this is the room that kills relationships and that divorces r plotted in. We say ,"but these things are true!" But we all have hurts and unresolved issues and baggage.. we have all sinned and made mistakes.
However, REAL LOVE...TRUE LOVE...BELIEVES THE BEST. Love knows that "D-ROOM" but its not called that for nothing...if u choose to stay there...ur marriage will literally die. When fights happen...we need to choose to stop opening that door and re-living every horrible moment. It drains every lil piece of joy that u may have in ur marriage. We need to choose to live in the APPRECIAITION ROOM....THAT IS WHERE WE NEED TO STAY. When rough times hit, ur spouse disappoints u, yes we automatically open that other door, but it should only be to remind us of what we need to continue to pray about for them! In D- Room of ur heart....try and write in big bright white letters,"LOVE COVERS ALL". True love covers all negative. True love washes all that away and wipes the slate clean. "Love covers a multitude of sins". Remember who u r. Remember u r not perfect and the slate is constantly wiped clean for u. Jesus covered ur sins with love.
Let's try in live in the beautiful room of our heart for our spouse. Remind urself daily of the good things. Remind urself of those wonderful attributes and why u fell in love with them in the first place. I guarantee that wall will continue to be filled with increasingly positive things.
OUR DARE TODAY IS TOO GET TWO SHEETS OF PAPER. ON THE FIRST WRITE A FEW POSITIVE THINGS ABOUT UR SPOUSE. THEN WRITE THE NEGATIVE THINGS ON THE OTHER SHEET. PLACE BOTH SHEETS IN A SECRET PLACE FOR ANOTHER DAY. THERE IS A DIFFERENT PURPOSE AND PLACE FOR EACH. AT SOME POINT THROUGHOUT THE DAY PICK A POSITIVE ATTRIBUTE FROM THE LIST AND THANK UR SPOUSE FOR HAVING THAT CHARACTERISITC!
U can do it. Love u guys and ur determination. I'm praying for all ur hearts as well as ur spouses. May our APPRECIAITION ROOMS GROW BIGGER AND THE D-Rooms diminsh.
God Bless u today and always.
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