Marriage bill of rights
MSN had two articles posted as The Husband’s Bill of Rights, http://men.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6742052>1=32001, and the Wife’s Bill of Rights, http://men.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6750191. Interesting and humorous, they definitely could help with some expectations but what does it say about our concept of marriage?
Think about it, such a “bill” is written to preserve individuality. Can a marriage survive that way? If you have to write them out will they be truly respected? Aren’t some of those rights given up to a degree when we choose marriage over being single? How about focusing on someone else besides yourself and your happiness? Maybe in marriage we end up running from what is revealed about us when we try to merge 2 lives together. As humans there is selfishness and sin and that gets messy which doesn’t qualify as happily ever after.
Marriage opens up doors for personal growth that remain closed if we don’t mature. For example, the areas of communication and compromise. Some studies show that married couples spend less than 10 minutes in conversation a week. One must learn to appreciate their spouse for who they are. Secondly, we all need to be loved and we need to find ways to show love; marriage is the perfect environment. Also, in a marriage we are often the beneficiaries of forgiveness and grace and we should show it even more often to our spouses, too.
I’m afraid any time we assert our rights, rebellion in some form is to follow. I believe we need to have a higher view of marriage. A view that leads us to consider a bigger purpose that maybe, just maybe, marriage is more than an experience you should try in your lifetime. Marriage is about two becoming one, a mystery that is given life, hope and purpose in God’s plan. It is that spiritual dynamic that gives traction to a relationship and as a result it nearly eliminates the need for “rights.”
Tags: expectations, husband, marriage, wife