Last night we were on our way back from Skyline Drive and decided we wanted to grab dinner. My wife asked me what I wanted to eat and I told her it didn’t matter to me-”whatever makes you happy.” She explained that because it was my birthday it was “whatever makes you happy.” So in even more clever response, I told her that my greatest happiness came in seeing her truly happy. I’m especially happy when I see her life filled with joy in response to a choice I make or something I do for her. I know this sounds super cheesy but it is seriously the way I try to live my relationship out with her. I have found the more I die to myself and live for her the more joy I find in life.
At the foundation of John Piper’s theology is what He calls Christian Hedonism. The basis of this belief is that God’s ultimate desire is to see us filled with joy. In order to experience this He does whatever He can to ensure that we are blessed and filled with joy. His greatest moment of joy is each moment we are joyful. To make these moments more frequent He does everything He can to give as much of Himself to us as He possibly can. Enter Jesus on the cross and the Holy Spirit within us. Simply said God is the greatest being or essence in all that exists, and to make us most joyful He has to give us the best, Himself.
This may sound arrogant but if it is true, than it is true. If God is truly the most loving, powerful, gracious, merciful, and knowing being to exist than nothing could make us more joyful than to possess a piece of Him. Same goes in your marriage. To your spouse you are or were at one time the most amazing man or woman they know or knew. True submission to one another, is the submission to each others desires and their desire ultimately is you. So every decision you make should be to bless them or make them happy. And the greatest gift you can give them is you. Your time, attention, and love. This reciprocated will lead to a blessed and joyful marriage.
Ephesians 5:1-2, 15
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…
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