To be filled up. That is what we all seek in life. We need our emotional tank filled up. Our physical tank filled up with touches and affection. We also need our spiritual tank filled up.
When we get married, without meaning to, we can look to our spouse to fill up our tank. At first, that isn’t a problem because both of you are so in-love. You cater to one another’s needs and are very good at giving the needed love and attention to one another.
Then time goes on. You get used to one another. The extras aren’t given as much and things get comfortable. Complacent maybe.
And your tank starts to feel empty.
Yes, it’s good for each partner in a marriage relationship to continue to try and serve the other. It’s important to respect, love, and honor each other in how you speak and act. Little or big actions do a lot to protect a marriage relationship and savor the love between two people. But that isn’t what should fill up a person. We mislead ourselves to think that one person could ever completely fill up all of our emotional, physical, and spiritual needs.
They won’t.
We are human. We will let each other down.
No spouse can ever completely meet your needs. Only God can do that. It’s unfair to look to our husband or wife as if they are letting us down when in reality, they are simply being flawed human beings. That doesn’t mean we can’t hope for changes in a marriage or pray about issues that need to be resolved. It simply means that we need to examine our hearts and see if we aren’t asking or expecting things out of our spouse that there is no way they can deliver on.
First and foremost, God is the only One who can completely fill up our inner tanks. He can bring them from empty to full, time and time again, regardless of what a spouse does or doesn’t do in our life. And once our tank is full, then we can be the kind of marriage partner that we should be – and only then.
It’s good to try and take care of each other in life. It’s important. But it should be secondary to what is already taking place inside of your spiritual heart.
First comes God and our relationship with Him. Always. Then our marriage relationship. If both partners are aligned in the way they should be in their spiritual walk, everything else will line up as well. For no one person can be ALL to someone else. That job goes to God and God alone.
FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR:
Dionna Sanchez is a freelance writer/blogger who is passionate about faith, family, and living a life of character. Dionna strives to be authentic yet gentle, joyful but intentional, and humble yet wise. She continues to learn each year how to be a better wife. Visit her blog at beautyinthestorm.com or connect on Facebook at facebook.com/dionnasanchezwriter
