As God works through your marriage journey to train you in righteousness and Christlikeness, you need to ask yourself, "What is the end purpose of this journey?"

He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.  Philippians 1:6

I (Teresa) love this definition of training: "Journey with me to model God's way of facing life's issues." David and I have both been in training through­out our marriage. It seems that when one of us is going through a lesson from the journey of life, then the other is there to model stability or provide comfort and encourage­ment. When I'm in the midst of one of life's trials, I have confidence that David will go through the trial with me.

In the midst of these kinds of trials, one crit­ical question many couples forget to ask is, "What am I in training for?" An athlete who constantly trained but never competed would likely lose interest, and a musician who constantly trained but never performed would likely lose motiva­tion. Both need to know what motivates them.

As God works through our marriage journey to train us in righteousness and Christlikeness, we need to ask ourselves, What is the end purpose of this journey? Here are two answers to that question in mine and David's marriage:

1. To bring praise to Him for His gift of grace.
2. For God to use our marriage as a witness to others—our own chil­dren, our family, our friends, our coworkers, and others.

Our marriage has in many ways been a journey in training others how not to make the mistakes we've made. We've often wondered why God has brought us down the paths He's chosen to bring us. But we always understood when we got to the end of those paths. We have learned that God can be trusted. Through our journey, He has expanded the impact of our ministry beyond our wildest dreams. He has used it to touch countless homes and lives.

What specific useful lessons have you learned in the journey, lessons God can use in the lives of those around you?

Thank You, God, for causing all things to work together for good— even the mistakes we make in our marriage.