Stephane and I were married ten years ago tomorrow – July 26th, 2008. It has been an amazing journey and I am grateful to God for my wife. Here are just a few of the things I have learned from our decade-long marriage:

1. The importance of praying together. Steph and I pray together every day. As the saying goes, “couples that pray together, stay together.” Praying together is a constant reminder of our need for the Lord. Only Christ can supply the grace and wisdom we need day by day.
2. How much God loves us. Marriage is to be a reflection of the type of love and intimacy we can have with God. Just like the marital relationship, our Lord desires that we enjoy a deep knowledge of Him, not just a superficial knowledge. In this sense, it is amazing to me how instructive marriage can be when it comes to our relationship with the Lord.
3. I am a sinner. Ok, ok, I guess I knew that before.  But marriage has a way of exposing all those warts and ugly character traits that we used to be able to hide. After ten years of marriage, I am much more aware of my own selfishness, pride, anger and sinfulness in general than ever before. As a side note, forgiveness in marriage is really powerful. You probably sin more against your spouse than you do anyone else, but the gospel reminds us that we can “forgive one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
4. As head of our home, I have a lot more responsibilities.  It used to be that I only had to look out for myself and my own interests.  Now I have a family that I am responsible for. Obviously, this is a huge change from my pre-marriage days, but at the same time it is a good change. And even though I am the head of our home (1 Corinthians 11:3), there have been many times where the Lord has told me – LISTEN TO HER – SHE IS MY GOOD GIFT TO YOU! These are the moments where I must submit (Ephesians 5:21) and listen to my wife.  All honest husbands will affirm the need for this.
5. The Lord takes care of us. Just like any couple, there have been many issues that we have had to work through and deal with in our relationship. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In anything and everything, the Lord has taken care of us and has brought us to a new level of faith we could have never imagined when we first got married. Glory be to God!
6. Our love keeps growing over time. Before we got married, it was hard to imagine loving Stephane any more than I already did. But after ten years of marriage, I can honestly say our love for one another continues to grow. In the same way, our love for the Lord should also keep growing and multiplying. I like how Peter puts it at the end of his second letter: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. (2 Peter 3:18)

To summarize, marriage is an amazing gift from God and is truly fulfilling. That’s not to say there won’t be trials and difficulties along the way, but a Christ-centered couple can always know that God will supply an abundance of grace in your time of need.