Friends with Benefits part 2

Last week I wrote a post entitled "Friends with benefits" and in that post I discussed how God had designed our spouses (or as I like to call her my better half) in a way that they should be our best friends. I talked about what it means to have our spouses as our best friend and some of what that is and looks like. I want to dive into a few other benefits of having a relationship with our spouses the way God created them to be. There are definitely more ways and benefits than I will list. Maybe later posts will add to them. But here are 3 benefits that I have been reminded of.

#1- Pleasure

Now I know this is obvious to most married couples. Sex as God has designed it is amazing and for our spouse. But we can also find much pleasure in our best friend outside of the bedroom. I came across a picture of my beloved from years ago recently and through that picture I was reminded how much pleasure I can get out of just admiring the beauty that God created in her and the amazing gift of that beauty God has then given me. I love my close male friends but there is some pleasure (outside of sex) that I can only have with my beloved. The pleasure of being know intimately and the fun it can be to watch her know what I am going to do before I do it. The pleasure of snuggling in a warm blanket while we watch it snow on a cold winter day. The pleasure I can get when I hold her hand as we pray in church. Even the pleasure of knowing I am needed is something that only our spouses can bring. So there are many pleasures that can come into our lives by only having our best friends being our spouses. 

#2-Knowing ourselves better.

I have discovered and been reminded over the last few days that a great benefit to having my best friend around me all the time and know me the best, is the fact she can point out things in me that I might never have noticed. My best friend can see things in my life that I might skip or gloss over. She can remind me of things that I might have forgotten or chosen not to remember. Sometimes our biggest idols and deepest sins can only be noticed by others in our life and to have a best friend that can help open our eyes to these things is a huge benefit. Our spouses can challenge us to grow in areas, ask questions to make us think deeper, or even pry into corners to not allow us to hide things. Sometimes the best ways to discover the most about ourselves is by allowing someone to look into our lives and point things out. What better benefit than having the love of our lives be the person that can help us discover the most about ourselves.

#3-Worship

I have know since I was a teen that a place where great worship of God can take place is in a marriage. It has only been recently and after 10 years of marriage that I have truly started to discover what this worship is and looks like. Only in a marriage with our best friend can we; fight to the glory of God, forgive to the praise of Jesus, find pleasure that radiates God's glory, be sanctified with the Spirits power, have a prayer life that unifies, and on the list can go. In a marriage where each partner resembles their Savior, a true bond of friendship, love, respect, honor, compassion, and loyalty takes place and the worship and praise of God is found the most. Worship and praise to God should be an amazing benefit to have with our best friend who is our spouse and better half. Worshiping our Creator and Savior is so much better when we can do it with our best friend, and I have discovered this first hand as my praise of Jesus is so much sweeter when I can do it with my beloved.

Having our spouses be our best friends has some amazing benefits.