"FIRST THINGS FIRST"

AGAPE40

DAY 12

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Passage

“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.’”

GENESIS 2:24

Today's Meditation

God First!

Obviously, God should be first in your marriage. But so many times we forget this. Every day we wake up, do all the chores, work, and leave God last. Is God in your first thoughts when you wake up? Is praying really the first thing you do in the morning? Do you bless the food before eating it? Do you do your daily rosary? We have failed at this. So many times we wrap ourselves in our daily duties that we forget what’s most important. But today can be a fresh start! Give God the first place in your life and marriage. May he dictate everything you do. When we put God first in our marriage, we grow closer to each other. This is because the more we love God, the more we will grow in our Agape love for our spouse. We can’t give what we don’t have. If God is love, we must have a closer relationship with Him in order to love others.

Priorities: First Things First

After God, your spouse comes next. Every day of your life, this order must be respected for the sacredness of your marriage. Therefore, the fruit of your love, children, should always go after your spouse. This means that you must purposely make space to grow in love with each other every day. This can look like taking care of each other and taking time purposefully to date your spouse in the midst of family life. Your spouse should always feel seen, loved, heard, and cared for by you.

Keeping this order of priorities will actually benefit your own children. When they see that mom and dad love each other and put each other first, they learn what true love is. Strong families and faithful children come from strong and faithful parents. Show your kids what marriage truly is; show your kids what it means to die for the other, to honor, and to care. To expand more on this topic, think of when you and your spouse need to make a simple decision. If your children are watching, what will you show them? When spouses work as a team and love each other as their priority, they are able to show their children no division but rather teamwork. Many marriages end in divorce because one of the spouses stops prioritizing. They put other things before their spouse. And unfortunately, many times, they cared way more for their children and forgot to nourish their love for their spouse. May this be a reminder to purposely keep first things first. After God, your spouse deserves to be before anyone and anything!

Leave His Father and Mother

Before you get married, your parents are your priority. However, when you get married, this priority changes, putting your spouse before your parents. Many marriages are affected because they put their parents or in-laws’s opinions before their spouse. For this reason, we recommend that you don’t discuss marital problems or situations with your parents or in-laws. Similarly, with your children, your relatives will see what true marriage is when you are able to put your spouse, their health, necessities, and life before anyone else in your family. For some, it may look harsh, but keeping these priorities gives the sacred order that marriage is intended to have.