Receiving as a Gift

Receiving your spouse as he is — not as you wish he were — is one of the hardest and most freeing practices in marriage. There's an idealized version of your spouse that lives in your head, and the real spouse doesn't always match it. When you learn to receive the real man, with his real limitations, his real quirks, the real love he has to give — you stop living in disappointment and start living in gratitude. Paul uses Christ as the model: He received us as we are, not as we should be. That doesn't mean transformation doesn't happen — it does. But it begins with acceptance. Receive him today. With gratitude. With eyes open to what he has, not closed to what's missing.