Ideals wreak havoc on our marriage.
What do I mean by ideals? I mean, those perfect or “ideal” images of married couples we see everywhere we look.
Scrolling through social media feeds are the “brag-bookers” (you know who I’m talking about). We have all been guilty of it; taking that picture that happens to show off all our latest “brands” we’re wearing. For you parents out there, that short-lived moment your kid is being smiley, perfect and cute.
Color me guilty…
I’m mad
It’s frustrating to sit there and see other people’s lives, let alone marriage seemingly perfect right?
Awe! Look at the flowers he bought her? Or, I wish he would surprise me with dinner like that…
The comparison game sets in…the unspoken pressure to be a better spouse because “Look at the Jones’. They have it all together.”
Ideals are tricky. In one sense they show us a true image of beauty and love. But in another sense, they can impose a standard, a code that if we don’t live up to then our seemingly good becomes less than desirable.
Thoughts from Mr. Knightley
I’m reminded of a scene from one of my guilty pleasure movies Emma with Gwenyth Paltrow. Emma is talking with Mr. Knightley about her friend, Harriet Smith – a young girl from an obscure background. Harriet rejected a proposal from a “respectable farmer” (Emma, Ch. 8) Mr. Robert Martin – someone whom Emma could not associate with as Mr. Martin was below her in the hierarchy of society.
Stay with me my friends because Emma actually brings the point home, well, Mr. Knightley does thanks to Emma’s lack of sense.
Enter Mr. Knightley, a wealthy gentleman who is an older-brother type character to Emma with whom she later develops feelings for and (spoiler alert) marries. Mr. Knightley could not understand why Emma would influence her friend Harriet to reject Mr. Martin’s offer of marriage.
Mr. Knightley says it perfectly, (Chapter 8)
“You (Emma) will puff her (Harriet) up with such ideas of her own beauty, and of what she has a claim to, that, in a little while nobody within her reach will be good enough for her. She (Harriet) thought he (Robert Martin) was good enough too until you started to puff her up. Vanity working on a weak mind produces all kind of mischief.”
Hmm…it seems Jane Austen isn’t that far off?
“Let her marry Robert Martin, and she is safe, respectable and happy for ever; but if you encourage her to expect to marry greatly, and teach her to be satisfied with nothing less than a man of consequence and large fortune, she may be a parlour boarder at Mrs. Goddard’s all the rest of her life…”
Translated, “Let her marry the man who is in love with her and whom she adores. If you impose your ideals on her, then she will begin to think less of what she has and more of herself, leaving her marriage and situation status: single and undesirable as time goes on.”
Society’s ideals are similar to the voice of Emma. Although they may have good intentions, they do not fully understand our marriage/situation.
It’s vanity working on our weak minds so-to-speak.
Who we let and who we should let determine our ideals
All too often we allow our ideals to be defined by everyone and everything except the One whose opinion matters most.
I’d encourage us all to take a few steps back, look at our lives and the ideals in which we live by.
Are we truly seeking God’s Word – His opinion about our marriage? What does He say about our spouse? About us, as a wife/husband?
God’s ideals aren’t the world’s ideals, and His ideals aren’t a secret. They are written in the bible, right there for us to discover daily.
Ideals determine our perspective
Knowing and understanding our Heavenly Father brings Godly perspective.
When our spouse hurts our feelings, how should we respond? What would be God’s ideal response from us?
Look at how He responds to us: forgiveness, grace, mercy, love.
Are there areas in our marriage where we’re imposing the world’s ideals when really, we should be allowing God’s way to be the light that guides and leads us?
Transparency and praise
I know for Ryan and I, we aren’t perfect. For me personally, I often feel insecure about where I came from (lower-income, divorced home). It causes me to feel unworthy of Ryan who is brilliantly smart, handsome and from a two-parent home (I’m bias of course).
Sometimes I feel like he would be better off with a different wife, someone more worthy.
But when I look at what God has done in my life; where I might be if He hadn’t intervened…I’m sure we can all relate.
He is my ideal
He brought me out of the miry clay (Psalm 40:2) and all I can do is praise and thank Him! By His grace I have my dream husband. Everyday of health, life and moments of joy in our marriage, and with our little family; they are all from Him.
He, my God, my Savior – HE is my ideal.
When God is the one who determines our ideals, nothing else matters. Our priorities begin to fall into place, our values are rightly determined and most importantly, God is honored and glorified.
Question: Is there an ideal “box” that you’re trying to make your marriage fit into? What does God’s Word say about it?
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Have you heard of the The 31-Day Pursuit Challenge?
Every marriage begins with passion, purpose, and pursuit, but few stay that way. That’s why we wrote Husband in Pursuit and Wife in Pursuit Together, they make what we’re calling the 31-Day Pursuit Challenge. Couples are encouraged take the challenge together. We’re already starting to hear stories of transformed marriages! Are you up for the challenge?
