HAPPILY INCOMPATIBLE

Did you know the Bible mentions the word happiness very few times? But it mentions the word joy a whole lot! Why? I believe it’s because happiness speaks to circumstances while joy speaks to a heart attitude.

So, what does that mean for marriage? For your marriage?

Milton and I do a teaching called "Seven Truths of Lasting Marriages." We tag-speak, him taking one point, me the next. He developed the outline, and his third point is…

"You can have a happy marriage, but not necessarily be happy all the time."

It's a very important point for a marriage. It's all about the happiness/joy issue.

Milton found a quote that said, "If you are happy 50 percent of the time, you are about average."

Recently, a reporter asked Dr. Billy Graham about his wife Ruth and their marriage. "We are happily incompatible," he said.

What he was saying, was, they are very different yet they choose to be happy, or, compatible.

Compatible, according to Webster's, means "capable of existing together in harmony."

And harmony has many meanings. Here are a couple…

1. internal calm

2. an interweaving of different accounts into a single narrative

Some couples achieve harmony with little effort. For others, it's a constant struggle. Yet it can be attained.

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Lord, grant us harmony in our marriages, a blending of our souls and lives so that we may serve and honor You. Amen.