The goal of a Christian marriage should be to love your spouse, bring glory to God, and have a Christ centered marriage. But this can be difficult sometimes amidst sin, pain, and the worries of this world. So all week long we will be talking about what it means to live a Christ Centered Marriage.

To even begin thinking about living a Christ Centered Marriage, we have to realize that this first starts with being selfless. Indeed, God makes it plain in His scripture that in order to be Christ followers, we must first die to self and live for Christ. God is integral to your marriage.

Learning to be Selfless

If we want to follow Christ, then that means laying down our own lives and living for Him.

“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” ~ Luke 9:23

We no longer live for ourselves. Our lives, our passions, and our desires should now shift to those of Christ.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ~ Galatians 2:20

Making Your Marriage Better – Living It Out

So what does this mean in marriage? God calls us to be selfless and follow Him. How do we follow Him? By obeying His Word and living out what he commands. Here is what He commands in Scripture:

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” ~ Ephesians 5: 22-30

Wives, we are to submit to our husbands the same way we submit to the Lord. We are to lay down our own selfish desires to better serve our husbands. And do you know why this works so beautifully within a loving and committed marriage? Because:

Husbands are commanded to love their wives like Christ loves the Church. Christ loved His Church so much that he went to a brutal and physical death for her.  Husbands are commanded to love their wives this much. {But sadly, we know that husbands don’t always lead like they should}

So when submission is lived out on the wife’s part, and the husband loves her like he should, then both are acting in mutual selflessness. And this works beautifully in marriage.

Neither partner needs to feel like they have to fight for their own self interest. They can relax knowing that the other is looking out for them.

The type of love that Scripture commands and should be lived out is sacrificial love.

Sacrifice your own desires and interests for your spouse on a daily basis, and you will truly be living out a Christ Centered Biblical Marriage. And when your spouse is doing the same, then your needs will be met and your marriage will flourish. It may takes years  to get to that point, but ultimately if you are making selfless decisions on a daily basis, then God will be glorified in your marriage and in your life.

Join Me For a Challenge!

One of my goals for 2016 is to focus more on my husband, to have more fun in our marriage, and to make him feel cherished and loved! Together with two of my very favorite bloggers, we will be going through a marriage challenge February 8-March 8th!Get all the details & join in here!

Are you ready to take some time to focus on your marriage but you don’t know where to start? Do you wish you and your husband spent more time talking, laughing, and having fun together? Three Christian bloggers have come together to give you the ultimate bundle to help you strengthen your marriage! Check out the bundle today (and join our optional Facebook challenge group)!

P.S. We are offering a 100% money back guarantee in case the bundle isn’t what you expected or wasn’t helpful. Now you literally have no reason not to go check it out!