A G&M Filled Marriage

Is your marriage filled with Grace and Mercy?

I have heard it said, “Grace is when God gives us what we don’t deserve and mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we do deserve”. God shows us grace by offering the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, as payment for our sins. God “demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). When we admit our sin and accept what Christ did on the cross, we are issued into an eternal relationship with our Creator, something we would never be capable of doing on our own (Rom 10:9).

We don’t deserve salvation nor is there anything we can do to earn it. It is a gift, freely given to us undeserving individuals from a loving God who does not want, “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). What we do deserve is eternal death, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)! God does not offer us death though. He chooses rather to look upon His Son and His sacrifice rather than our sin. He shows mercy and does not give us what we deserve, eternal death and separation from Him.

So is your marriage filled with G & M? Do you take opportunities to give your spouse what they do not deserve (grace), or withhold what you feel they certainly seem to deserve (mercy)? What is your response when your spouse forgets your anniversary (maybe for the second time)? What do you do when your significant other seeks forgiveness and changes their actions? Do you continue to hold the grudge or nurse the anger or do you give them what they do not “deserve” - grace?

Having a G & M filled marriage is a choice. Just as God chooses to show grace and mercy to us, we will have multiple opportunities to show our spouse the same. By following our great God’s example, we can fill our marriages with a never ending source of grace and mercy. A G & M filled marriage can be a shining example of what God has done for each of us!

Fred Doehle

Dwelling Place Ministries

marriagematters@dpcouples.org