June 12 - Psalm 112:1-2

Blessed is the man

who fears the LORD …

His offspring will be

mighty in the land;

the generation of the

upright will be blessed.

Psalms 112:1-2

^ESV

Funny ...

To start a list of "problems in marriage" (that we want to solve), I googled those words. Clicking the first link that appeared, I've wound up for these last several days on the first link in the computer generated list -- Women's Health magazine.

But to get to today's problem, a dieting ad popped up in my browser. Thus, in order to get to today's issue, I had to click the dieting link that said, "No thanks, I already have a bikini body."

So from the guy with apparently a bikini body ...

Today's marital "problem" is kids.

(Now … while I know first-hand that kids are a lot of work and do cause more than a few challenges, that fact that kids are labeled a "problem" in marriage is itself the real problem!)

Maritally, though, here's one reason why kids are such a challenge. As Women's Health reports: "Women bear the lion's share of the childcare work, which may be why 70 percent of women report being significantly less satisfied with their marriages after baby arrives."

Please refer to yesterday's devotion. We discussed the discrepancy (often in terms of time and effort) between how men and women contribute to the day-to-day tasks of the home. (This may be especially true in terms of nurturing children. Women tend to be more relational.)

Having discussed that, let me turn to another part of the problem ...

Our society promotes selfishness.

Our own sin-nature also promotes selfishness.

But successful parenting requires selflessness.

Read that last word carefully: successful parenting requires selflessness.

As a dad, I am now on the other side of my at-home parenting years. My boys are grown. I can't say I was always selfless, but because I wasn't primarily selfish, my days then were more joyful.

And there's an added benefit: My days now are more joyful too‼

As a relatively selfless dad, I helped raise young men of character. And the peace and joy I have now in witnessing healthy sons was worth every moment of my sacrifice then. (Similarly, I've watched other attentive dads raise confident daughters who don't have to seek worldly attention ... because they're secure in their daddy's eyes.)

As a dad on the other side of that journey, I'll speak especially to the dads -- the time goes fast. Be selfless now!

Your time for yourself will come later.

And your later will be better because 1) your kids are more likely to be oaks of righteousness, and 2) your wife, who you supported powerfully in this parenting venture, will be standing joyfully beside the man she's so proud of.

Question: Husbands, wives, and especially you men, if God has blessed you with children, are you partnering powerfully in the selfless joy of raising the ones entrusted to you?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to be

more less than ish

(after all that's how I got

this bikini body!)