Parasites

This week in our fireproof small group study we talked about "parasites" in your marriage. You know, bad things like drugs, gambling, pornography, etc or good things like work, kids, dreams, etc that can end up stealing your focus... basically anything that gets in the way of building that intimacy with your spouse and ends up tearing apart your marriage. One of the verses that we discussed was 1 Peter 5:8-9 ⁸Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.⁹But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

This verse tells us that we need to be careful. Things are going to attack us in all aspects of our lives and we need to be prepared for it, expect it, and be ready run from or to attack it right back and defeat it. Especially in our marriage. These are the three points that were brought out in terms of helping with temptations and keeping parasites from taking over...

be sober- we need to control our selves and be in the right mind- dont be clouded in your thoughts and views, know the truth
be alert- we need to keep our eyes and ears open to things around us in the world and in the spirit and always be ready- on guard, dont even give an inch
resist him- not only are we to fight back or turn and run from things that try to destroy us, but the very fact that this is in the scripture is telling us that we have the power to fight back and/or actually resist and flee. YOU CAN DO IT!!! Phil 4:13 you can do all things through Christ you gives you strength.

Now I want to add an extra point here, and that is:
Humbleness- now this isn't in these verses but I think it is a very important thing to mention when discussing this subject. (little did I know that it was talked about in the previous verse as I found out just now when re-looking up the verses) But when a strong temptation hits you and you are struggling really hard with it, you should pray of course, but also you should stop right there if possible and seek out your spouse and ask them to pray for you too. We need to be able to humble ourselves and let our spouse know when we are struggling with something. There is power in prayer and in numbers. It also helps to get things out of the dark. Darkness is not good anywhere, especially in a marriage. Let the light in to shine on everything. If a sin or struggle stays in the dark, it can and most likely has power over you. Once it is revealed and brought into the light, the hold it has over you is broken and it is so much easier to see and defeat. It is so important that you can trust your spouse enough to talk to them and share yourself like this; so do what you need to in order to have that kind of trust and that kind of humbled spirit when it comes to your struggles. This kind of openness will also bring so much intimacy into your marriage. Be "naked and unashamed" with each other and see what it does for your marriage and personal struggles.