The Book of Proverbs and Marriage - 2

(Proverbs 3:9-10) “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with first fruits of all your produce; then will your barns be filled with plenty, with new wine your vats will overflow.”

One great way to unite as a couple is around a unified generosity towards others. God loves a cheerful giver and blesses those who care for others in need. It is so heartwarming and healing to work as a team in bettering the world around us and feeling like we are making world a little bit better for the future of our kids. We can be generous with our resources, but we can also be kind and giving through our talents and our time.

Some of the best memories I have is of times when my wife, my kids, and I have served others during certain times of the year like, Lent or Advent. We have done everything from serving at food banks, giving meals to the homeless, bringing presents to families that were not able to provide a Christmas to their children, or through Caroling to nursing home residents. These moments brought about more unity in our family and gave us a sense of being God’s hands and voices as a team.

Through our years of tithing, we have also discovered as a family, how God always provided for our needs and helped us in some very dire times. We still remember the time my wife was giving the kids a lesson on this and tried to help them understand that, just because we give to others, doesn’t mean “we will receive checks in the mail to meet our needs” but God is generous in other ways. The next day, we received an envelope in the mail, in which the sender was unidentifiable, with 5 - $100 bills in it, which helped us with an unexpected expense we had. So, my wife had to tell the kids, “God doesn’t always send checks in the mail. Sometimes He sends cash.” It gave us a great laugh.

We honor God though our generosity to those in need. Scripture points out over and over the importance of taking care of the poor, the widow, the homeless, those rejected by the world, and those most in need. When we care for others as a couple or as a family, it often has the great blessing of building unity. 

ACTION STEP: This week, find ways to give to others as a couple or a family. Use it to teach each other about God’s generosity toward us.