WHAT MARRIAGE IS REALLY ALL ABOUT

In the last part of May 1988, I was a few weeks away from getting married. That’s Mary and I in the photo below on June 4 of that year, our wedding day. As I was preparing mentally for the big event, I talked to a couple who’d been married for 10 years. “What is marriage really all about?” I asked. “What’s the essential nature of marriage?” Both of them thought for a few minutes. The man, Francis, then said he’d get back to me. I’m still waiting to hear from him on this.

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I’m not surprised that Francis is taking his time answering because it has taken me more than 10 years to figure out my own answer. I offer what I’ve discovered in the hope that it might prove useful to someone, someday, somewhere. But to understand what marriage is really all about, you first need to understand what love is.

The English word for love means too many things to be useful without some explanation. And the working definition of “love” has changed quite a bit over the last couple of decades. It’s a shame we don’t have more common and stable language for all the different kinds of love, but I’ve discovered one definition that cuts through a lot of confusion for me – at least as far as love in the context of marriage is concerned:

“Love is the willingness to cheerfully, humbly and consistently put the happiness and well-being of another person ahead of your own.”

Ultimately, love is not a feeling. People don’t fall in love and out of love so much as they fall in and out of fond feelings of so-called “love”. I’ve discovered that the best marriages are built on the intention of a lifelong commitment to lavish true, selfless love on your spouse, even when it gets in the way of our own needs and wants. And yes, even when your spouse doesn’t always offer love in return. This is real love and it isn’t always easy to live out. Could it be that one reason lifelong marriage commitments are becoming so much more rare is that selflessness is going out of style across society?

Ya, But . . .

You might say: “Okay, but what about me and my needs? If I don’t stand up for what’s coming to me in marriage, no one else will!” That’s an understandable sentiment, and I guess you’ll need to figure the implications out for yourself. But this sentiment also misses something vital. The beauty of love is best viewed from outside ourselves, not from inside our heads and hearts as we’re living them. While the most harmonious marriages everywhere are always those where both spouses consistently put the other first in a selfless loving relationship, is it not also breathtakingly beautiful when selflessness is cheerfully delivered without equal treatment?  I’m not talking about physically dangerous situations here, so set that concern aside for a moment and consider a question:

When you, as a married person, are dead and gone, and all that remains are memories of your life as viewed through the eyes of eternity and the eyes of others, how will you look? Are you the partner who loved even when the object of your love hurt you? Or will you be the one who looked out primarily for “Number 1”  and your own needs? They say that what really counts in life is not what we do for ourselves, but what we do for others. I’m inclined to believe this even if I do forget it sometimes for a while. It helps me when I remember how a long time ago a wise man wrote how love is patient, kind, humble and selfless. Love is never offended, never rude, never jealous nor boastful. Love never seeks its own way. Notice all the uses of the word “never” in these sentences.

I have no idea what your relationship situations is, and I know that sometimes the pain of difficult relationships is more than a person thinks they can bear. This is why I don’t think much about blame when relationships fall apart. That said, a few simple ideas about the nature of love can never hurt, can it?

Encouragement is love cheering, and that’s what I hope this note will be for you – encouraging. May these thoughts carry you through those inevitable times when you might need to be reminded what marriage is really all about, especially in a world where old fashioned ideas about love and commitment and selflessness are laughed at, derided, and in the minds of many being quickly relegated to the status of old fashioned or even harmful.

One last thing . . . Real love in a marriage context is like a wood stove. You’ve got to put something in if you want the warmth, comfort and glowing cheer to come out. Sounds simple, but is it not true that the most powerful ideas in life usually are?

I hope this article makes a positive difference in your life. Please let me know.  The “buy me a coffee” button below provides a fast, simple and safe way to contribute financially towards what I’m doing on this website. Thanks for helping.

– Steve Maxwell