The Motivation of Vigilance

As a first semester college freshman, I took an upper level class about the anatomy and physiology of speech.  I was the only freshman in the class.  I took it because it sounded really cool.  The kind of stuff that excited me.  The reason I thought I’d gone to college.  At that time, I wanted to be a Presidential speech-writer.  And this class was only being offered this one time, so my advisor advised me to go ahead and take it.  The class was hard, but I worked my tail off because I loved it.

I ended up with one of the best grades in the class.

Same semester, different class, very different story.  The class was Old Testament Survey.  I took it because it was required.  Everyone had to take it if we wanted to some day graduate.  Therefore, it was a class full of freshmen (and a few transfer students).  Ever since I can remember, I have always loved studying my Bible.  What I did not enjoy, however, was history.  And this class was all about the story of the Bible, i.e. history (which, btw, I have since grown to LOVE and so appreciate).  It was hard, and I didn’t like it.

By mid-semester, I had a D.

I learned a lot about myself that first semester of college.  Namely, I am motivated by enjoyment.  I love to have fun.  If it isn’t fun to me, I may do it, but I will not do it wholeheartedly.  Or, I may not do it at all.  With some things, that’s okay.  But in many things, it’s not.  Because, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I am called to it.

The Bible says,“Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants . . .” Ephesians 6:7

That is one of the reasons I started the vigilant wives club.  Because, although most of my marriage so far has been amazingly full of enjoyment, there are definitely seasons when it feels like more of a requirement to me.  A requirement that I have been given by the Creator of Marriage Himself when my husband and I took vows and promised to remain faithful, to always love and cherish, even in sickness or poverty.  Until death.  Because I promised my husband that I would cherish him.  Always.  Even when I might not feel like it.  Even when it’s not easy.

And so, knowing myself, I needed to take drastic measures to ensure my motivation in the matter.  Even though motivation really has nothing to do with that fact of the promise I made that day in August almost fourteen years ago.  I need to be intentional if I want my marriage to not just survive but to actually flourish.  Because, if this were a college course, I wouldn’t be okay with just a C (which, btw, I ended up getting in OT Survey).

Okay, now it’s your turn…

***Here’s how it works… Leave a comment here about your husband and one way you choose to serve him today or this week. Or, if you have a blog, get your permalink for the post you’d like to share (a permalink is the URL to a specific blog post) then paste it into the nice little McKlinky thingy right here so other people can read and be encouraged by your vigilance. I also ask you to kindly link back to here so that your readers can read more vigilance stories.