A good day to die

     Today is Good Friday.  As a child, I could never understand why it was given the name “Good Friday.”  Jesus died.  Killed by selfish, jealous, angry, wicked people.  That didn’t seem good to me.  And, if that’s where you let the story end, well, it isn’t very good.  The good news is that Easter Sunday is coming.  The tomb will be empty.  There will be new life.  2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”  But before there can be new life, There has to be a death.  The old life has to go.  There has to be a Good Friday.

     Many marriages need a Good Friday.  Some old thoughts, words, actions, and attitudes need to be put to death if there is ever going to be new life.  Isolation needs to end.  Anger has to die.  Hurtful comments cannot be allowed to draw another breath.  Comparing your mate unfavorably to others has to be eliminated.  Passive aggressive manipulations must cease to exist.  Lack of responsibility and accountability has got to expire.  Unrealistic expectations (of your mate or of yourself) need to be dead and gone.  Unhealthy emotional attachments with someone other than your spouse must be killed.

     The things that have to die can originate from within the individual spouse, within the couple's relationship, or from outside the marriage.  But, regardless of where those things come from, they must be put to death.  It is only when a couple is willing to put to death the things that facilitate selfishness and destroy communication, that cause tension and foster blame, that a marriage can truly be resurrected into a new life.  A life centered on Christ.  A life that allows the marriage to become a place of blessing, encouragement, grace, and goodness.

     Today is Good Friday.  Figure out what you need to put to death so that your marriage can have an Easter Sunday of new life.



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