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You're listening to my Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1460.
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Today's Evo is called Keep the Unity.
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Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Good morning everybody and happy Friday. I promised something that I would bring my husband the last day of the week. Even though some people don't like that. I know. I'm so sorry. I had to. I couldn't do this week without him. If you noticed, instead of doing a full week, I did one episode. Yeah, you're welcome.
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But I wanted to do this week since it's February. I told him, Chris, at the beginning of the week that February is a big month for us. And it's not because it's Valentine's Day, but it's because we got married in February 19th. It's a five year anniversary. And this year we're turning five years. And so I've made this week about what the Bible has taught me in that, like five years of marriage, how to be better, how the Bible's helped help me do that, and that I'm not perfect at it, that I'm still working on it. But I wanted to save this topic about unity with you because it's good that we both talk about unity, not just what I think unity is.
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And I've shared a couple of marriage stories. I heard some of them I was sitting in. Yeah, but don't worry, it's all about the ones that I did. That's not funny.
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But there's another side of things. But it's mostly me, I guess. Today we're going to be reading from Ephesians 4:3. And it says, with all humility and gentleness, with patience bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.
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Tell us a little bit about this verse. Well, what I will say that I am no expert on this and that even when you bring me on, you know, because it's devotional, that's a place that I feel so comfortable in because it's something that, you know, we're well practiced in, but this is something that I can't really say we're comfortable in. We're really fleshing it out every day in our marriage.
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And you were talking about our search for a home and how the first house we actually saw, I was obsessed with, but you didn't feel right, so we put that one down. And then there's been homes recently that you've really liked, but you didn't feel that I had the same love for it.
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And it is because we have learned to care more for the unity than we have one of us being pleased. And we have found that when we're both pleased, that it's like that kind of funny, you know, when the two of you are on the same page, then God's on the same page, too, and it's the three of you. Like, we found that to be true. Like, it actually creates, like, a different type of synergy. And so, you know, I know as a husband having three sisters, I'm always thinking when you're processing something, I'm always thinking, she just wants me to listen. She just wants me to listen. She just wants me to listen. You know, it's the cliche. Men want to rush to fix things.
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And it's true. And we have to turn that off from time to time. My sisters used to call it the venting machine, where they would tell me, hey, I'm at the venting machine right now. And I'd be like, dang, that means I can't say anything back. But I also know that there are moments, especially with the pregnancy, looking for the home, with the amount of work we've got going on, where I can't just do that, even if it's what you want in the moment. And I have to ask the Lord to help me say, okay, when are the moments that I need to dive deeper? Because, like, that says, being eager to preserve unity. And there are moments where, you know, you would rather not share something in the moment because you just don't like. It's disappointing that I don't love a house or whatever it is. And so we get in the car, and, you know, you tend to get quiet, I tend to get loud. And it's in those moments where my tendency is now to say, let me just give her her space. But there are moments on big things I have to say, no, no, no, no, no.
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Tell me what you're thinking. And we actually figured it out on that first house that I mentioned, because I remember you said something about. After days of talking about it, you used the word. You used the word divided. Yeah. And I said, we were on our way to chillin. We were about to go get ice cream.
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And I said, rochelle, is that how you describe where we're at. Do you feel like we're divided? And you said, yes.
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And I said, then we're done. But the only reason that word came out was because we were both eager. Right.
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To be unified there. And that caused me to push past the desire to want to please you by just listening.
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And you had to push past your desire to stay quiet and kind of suffer in silence. But talk. Yeah, but to actually talk.
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And, you know, that's not easy for either of us. Right.
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But I'm so glad because now I think back to that, and if we were to get into the nuts and bolts of it, that would have been a terrible decision for us had we gone with the house that I loved. And our story is still yet to be finished. We're excited to see the next season of it written. But I would say to anybody listening, you know, yes, the advice to ensure that as a man that I'm letting my wife just talk without always feeling like I have to answer and try to fix things. But also as a woman wanting sometimes just to be heard, sometimes you've got to give that up too, because it's about getting to the same place and about being in unity. Now, the rest of that verse says, you know, do so kindly. Yeah. So you've got to be sure you're.
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You're. You're bringing that to the table. But I do think it's important to pursue unity and to be eager. Yeah. Another version that we read says, make every effort. Make every effort. And that's, I think, important to realize. Yeah. I love that. Because we could not be married and not be unified. We have to be unified. We're going to do this forever. And we are. So we're going to forever be unified. Okay. I love it. We're going to make every effort, every. Effort through kindness and humility to stay unified. To stay unified. Right. Can you pray for us today? Absolutely, Lord. Thank you so much. We went a little longer today, but I pray through your mercy and your grace, you'd help every single listener make every effort, push past whatever they need to in order to pursue unity when it matters. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.
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So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in. Today we pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.
