Don't Make Agreements

Week 25

The headline of this entry sounds strange, right? It all comes down to the definition of the word, agreements. In the book Love & War (book I have referenced earlier), there is a very thought provoking part in there about agreements. These "agreements" described in the book refer to the temptation to proclaim a destructive truth. The authors get into the very deep and spiritual aspect of this. They call these agreements "subtle, but momentous shift where we believe the spin, go with the feeling, and we accept the reality that the deception is spinning." Sin, temptation, Satan, our own desires, etc. are all a part of this.

I definitely struggle with making agreements about others, myself, and my marriage:

"Whitney will never change about ________." 
"This house will always be a mess."
"Whitney must be deliberately doing this!"
"That student of mine is an #$%$#. Always will be."

Whether it is about Whitney, myself, my job, kids, etc. - all of these agreements are destructive. If I find fellow negative people to confirm these agreements, that will make things even worse. There is no faster way for a marriage to fall apart than for someone to find a "friend" who will "agree" with agreements that have been made. Don't ever fall into that temptation. 

Do your best to refuse the temptation to make agreements. These are lies. This does not come from love. Always remember - your spouse is NOT your enemy. Selfishness, anger, pride, etc. - these are your enemy. 

When you catch yourself making agreements, pray about it. Confess it. Maybe even to Lindsy if you think it won't do more damage than it is worth. But most of all, fight these agreements with thankfulness. 

It is easy to fall in love

It takes work to plan a wedding

It takes a lifetime to build a marriage