Four things to keep in mind …

Just finished Dave Harvey’s, When Sinners Say “I Do”.

It’s a good read and I’d definitely recommend it as a gospel-proclaiming, readable book on the topic of marriage. (Lots of stories too, Tara S.! 🙂 )

I’d like to tempt you to purchase it with a tiny excerpt from his chapter on “stubborn grace.” In it, he lists “four things to keep in mind when encouraging your spouse in the grace of God.”

(But isn’t it true that these four things are really for us to encourage ANYONE in the grace of God? Don’t you find that in biblically-sound books on ANY topic, their teachings really relate to ALL of life? I read a book on parenting, and it helps me at work. I read a book on work, and WHOA! I’m helped at church. And on and on.)

Here are the four points that Pastor Harvey lists:

“1. Your spouse is inclined to drift from grace to self-effort. (“I just need to do more, work harder, give it more effort.”) (Therefore , you are called to …) preach the gospel to your spouse; encourage meditation upon the riches of the gospel; and encourage resting in God even as the battle rages …

2. Your spouse may tend to become discouraged. How can we practically encourage one another when discouragement sets in? Remind your spouse that God works beneath the surface well before change becomes visible; celebrate what you can see, even if it is not directly related to the area of desired change; review the game plan for change …

3. Your spouse can lose sight of the ultimate goal. In our spiritual battles, we can be so aware of the fight to overcome specific sin tendencies that we begin to think the Christian life is basically about dealing with sin. That’s completely wrong …

4. Your spouse must be pointed not to grace, but to the one from whom all grace flows. … Grace–amazing, persistent grace–is helping us each day to run the race of renouncing, living, waiting, and wanting … The grace of God has appeared with a power so stubborn that it will not allow sin to ultimately win. That’s remarkable news for the journey of marriage.”

Remarkable news for the journey of marriage and just of LIFE, eh?!

Thank you, Pastor Harvey, for an excellent book and a sweet reminder of the greatness (and sweetness!) of Christ our Savior.

Hope you all enjoyed a restful Sabbath–

With love,
Tara B.