⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version)

I remember the reading of this passage on my wedding day as if it was yesterday.  My then 15 year old future-sister-in-law read this passage during our 36 minute wedding service.  I remember the excitement of deciding which passage to choose, although I didn’t realize the significance of that passage until much later.

To this day, my wedding to my husband was the best thing that has ever happened to me, with the birth of my sons a very close second.  The thing about my marriage is that I wasn’t just marrying a man, I was also marrying my best friend, my partner, my confidant, and my protector.  It was more than just two people becoming one in the eyes of the world.  Sure, that day it became official, on paper. But we were united in spirit, and heart, long before that ceremony in front of our family and friends.

To this day, my marriage is one of my highest priorities.  Someone at work recently asked me what made our marriage work so well.  I didn’t hesitate when I said that we loved each other.  But it’s more than that.  We laugh together, we cry together, we celebrate together, we sit quietly together.  The defining factor of this is that we do things together. It took me quite a bit of time to really grasp that concept because I never had that kind of role model growing up.  My parents were never really together, and when they were, they were still apart.  We also laugh together.  We have fun together, even if we are just playing video games, watching tv or reading.

If anyone has seen the movie, Jerry Maguire, there is a scene in the movie where two people are in the elevator, and the man signs to the woman that “she completes him”.  That is how I feel about my husband, he completes me, he makes me whole.

Treasure your marriage, as it is God’s gift to you.