Scripture: So finish what you began to do. Then your willingness will be matched by what you accomplish 2 Corinthians 8:11 (GW)
Observation: Readiness to will. A willing mind makes even a little acceptable, but to do less than one is able to do is a denial of willingness. A generous will is good in itself, but alone it is not enough. The will must be embodied in deeds, if our best desires and energies are to give solidity and strength to the character. It is good to cherish the ideal of charity, but the ideal must find practical expression. Faith and love, as ideals, never feed the hungry or clothe the naked (James 2:14–20). “Readiness,” then, is a spontaneous disposition and attitude of mind to serve God and one’s fellow men. It has no need of being urged or driven forward by the importunity of others. [The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 6. 1980 (F. D. Nichol, Ed.) (890). Review and Herald Publishing Association.]
Application: I hear often, “I wish things were different,” “I’d like it if. . .” The desire to see changes in one’s relationship is good, but it must be followed with a willingness to do what it takes to make it happen.
I’d like to have more education must be followed by looking for the school where your program of study is offered, filling out the applications necessary, and after enrolling doing all the homework and studying for the tests in order to receive the grades necessary to pass the class and eventually be granted the degree one is pursuing.
I wish I had a better job must be followed with looking for other possibilities, getting the training and experience necessary to apply for another job, preparing your resume, making the proper contacts, showing up for your interviews, and pursuing that goal until you are successful in getting the job you have a passion for.
It is no different in your marriage. I wish my marriage were better must be followed with a willingness to make personal changes, getting professional counseling, implementing new ideas and approaches, reading and learning, communicating, and doing things that are proper and necessary to achieve the end results of a better relationship. The desire must be followed by the willingness and made possible by actual actions. We may wish for a better relationship, as long as there are no changes required in us, as long as our spouse makes the changes we think they need or should make, or as long as there’s no great effort on our part, and the result will likely not be what we had wished for. Good outcomes often require a willingness and the steps to follow that willingness into action.
Take the words of our text today and make them part of your life and marriage: “finish what you began to do. Then your willingness will be matched by what you accomplish.”
A Prayer You May Say: Father God, plant in our hearts not only the desire to make things better in our marriage, but help that seed of desire sprout into a willingness to do all we can to see that desire bloom into positive changes in our relationship.
Used by permission of Adventist Family Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.