What's It Like to Be Married to Me?: And Other Dangerous Questions

by Linda Dillow

Live life then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as [women] who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the evils of these days. Don’t be vague but firmly grasp what you know to be the will of the Lord.

Griping tears down and destroys my sweetness with my husband. Gratitude builds

When I sacrifice in this way, I’m not just to pray whatever comes to my mind, I am to be alert in my mind—attuned to Jody, attuned to his joys, attuned to his sorrows, attuned to his frustrations. I am to be alert to how I can help him, to how I can encourage him. Being alert is the opposite of being uninterested or passive. God is asking me to be keyed in to where Jody is physically,

The shocking thing is that God adds a P.S. to the Lord’s Prayer. He repeats only this conditional prayer about forgiving. He even makes it more explicit. “If you forgive those who sin against you, your

heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matt. 6:14–15 NLT). Are you thinking, Wait a minute, Linda, I thought I was saved by grace through faith. What do you mean God won’t forgive me? The Lord’s Prayer is not about salvation; it is about intimacy and fellowship with the Father. The purpose of the prayer is to show us how to stay in fellowship with God: