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<h1>Marriage: God's Object Lesson</h1>
Sometimes when I look back over the past 25 years, it seems like such a very short time. At age twenty I couldn't imagine that, I would survive to the ripe old age of forty-six to celebrate such an auspicious occasion as our 25th Anniversary. (If you're doing the math, yes, I'll be 47 soon). 
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When I first met Brother Schuetz, I couldn't believe my good fortune. In fact, I had such a hard time accepting it that for the first two years after we met I kept saying that I knew it wouldn't last. It was too good to be true. Who was I to deserve a man like him? We had one thing going for us from the beginning, however, that we never even realized until years later. In the more than 26 years, since we met I have discovered it was not 'good fortune', but a marvelous God who loved me more than I could ever imagine. Throughout our lives, even before we knew God, he knew us and had a plan for our lives. 
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I didn't know God when I was growing up. We only went to Sunday school a few times. I went to a lot of&nbsp;&nbsp;vacation Bible schools during the summers. (That's where you got the best snow cones.) Apart from that, I never really knew much about a loving God who cared so much about me. I had just turned 23 years old when Brother Schuetz and I accepted Christ as our Savior. 
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I struggled for 6 &Acirc;&frac12; years after this trying to please God while at the same time trying to overcome addictions to prescription drug, alcohol, and cigarettes. No matter how good I was or what I did it always seemed inadequate. God was never impressed for very long. It was as if he were always just outside my reach, nitpicking everything I did. I felt like I couldn't win. At this point, I got frustrated and stopped going to church for four months. When I was desperate enough, God introduced me to a new facet of his personality, the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
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During this time, Brother Schuetz continued praying. I would walk into our bedroom and he would have his Bible open, reading. I couldn't understand why he could still love me so. I often took our last few dollars and spent it on drugs or cigarettes, even though I knew it would be days or even weeks before we had any more money. He never condemned or scolded me. He just continued treating me with the same love he had shown me for years.
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When I got into a Full Gospel church, I started hearing about God's unconditional love, and his desire to have a personal relationship, even an intimate relationship with me. This all seems so foreign. I had never had heard of this kind of God. I tried to understand this concept for a while, even as I was&nbsp;struggling to get free of some of my old habits. 
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How could I understand a love that you can't earn or one in which you are not required to behave a certain way? There was one way. Brother Schuetz. You see, God said that I was the Bride of Christ. I could see that. I also knew that I was the bride of Bro. Schuetz. I could see that. Well, if I could receive love as the bride of Bro. Schuetz, even when I didn't deserve it, maybe I could receive God's love as the Bride of Christ. So I understood and accepted the unconditional love of God by comparing it to the unconditional love of Bro. Schuetz. 
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After this revelation, God started teaching me how he wanted to be my Father. It took him years to teach me how to think of him this way. Again, he used Brother Schuetz as an important instrument in my schooling. As I watched him relate to our daughter, Kathryn, I saw how I could relate to God as my 'Daddy.' I learned to crawl up in God's lap; lay my head on his shoulder just like any daddy. When I go to him in prayer it's no different from our children going to their daddy and asking to have their needs met.
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Through the years, God has used my family to teach me many facets of his character and personality. As a mother, I have learned patience, another facet of God's nature. The love I have for my children teaches me how God loves me as his child. God places us in families for this reason. As we develop our relationships with each other, we learn more about God's love for us.
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Twenty-five years of marriage to such a man! I can honestly say that he is the godliest man I know. WOW! What a life! I know, without a doubt, that I didn't deserve it. Thank God I didn't get what I deserved. I got God's love and the love of a good man instead.
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About the Author
Dr. Sharon Schuetz is an ordained minister and holds a BA in Religious Education and a Phd in Clinical Counseling Psychology. She and her husband, Michael, have been married for 33 years. They have three children and seven grandchildren. Like most writers, she has loved writing since she was a child.
 
Article Source: <a href="http://www.mironministries.org">Miron Ministries</a>

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Marriage: God's Object Lesson - Html View

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