Who's In First?

"You shall have no other gods before me."

Exodus 20:3

When I first married my husband, I was eager to begin our life together. We were young, and we were in love. To understand where I come from, you have to know that I am an only child, and I possess some of the personality that goes along with being an only. So . . . I wanted my husband to take care of me and meet my every need. And lots of the time, he did! 

But there were times he did not act  like I wanted. There were times he let me down. There were times I was disappointed. I was setting him up to fail.

He could not possibly take on all that I expected of him, see, I had placed my husband over my God. I was expecting God-sized behavior out of my human husband. I allowed my husband to be my idol.  

When I realized what I had done, I decided to let my husband off the hook. I decided to let my Father in heaven meet those needs instead. My husband was allowed to be the husband God intended him to be for me. And my relationship with Jesus grew.

This is what God wants for us. The Lord created us to need Him, and He longs to meet those needs. He wants to strengthen us through His power and love us through His grace. When we expect others to meet those needs, they will come up short. Every time.

A loving marriage is what we all desire. We want the fairy tale ending, right? True, but a Disney movie based on my life has not yet been made. But I can tell you, without a doubt, that the most fulfilling marriage is one centered on Christ. Colossians 1:17 reminds us, He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Depend on Jesus, He will never fail.

Thank you, Lord, that you desire to meet our needs. Show us how we can make you more central in our relationships and in our lives. 


Julie Smith