Today, my wife and I celebrate our 21st Anniversary. I get asked a lot about what a successful life would look like, how to live well.
Here it is. Committing yourself to another person and giving them 100% of your best effort.
Kim and I have a great marriage. It starts with our mutual commitment to something higher than ourselves in Jesus Christ. Through Him, we find ourselves growing and changing in ways that actually protects our marriage. Through Him, we recognize that we have made a covenant to one another and are determined to protect that promise.
Its not easy. I mean, I can be real tough to live with. Neither of us is perfect. We make mistakes and we have hurt one another, yet here we are, 21 years later.
This is a successful life. If neither of us do anything of any other substance in our lives, we have succeeded. We have given ourselves to another human and devoted ourselves to making life good for that person.
As you move along your own path, my prayer for you is that you also have that same experience. You have to be willing to make sacrifices; true love always includes sacrifice. You have to embrace patience and an honesty with your own faults in order to better deal with the issues of your mate. Yet, you can do it.
Some people imply that marriage, the act of giving yourself to another, is too hard. That’s why they suggest things like moving in together, or why you hear about so many young people just deciding that they’ll go ahead and have kids and worry about marriage later. Well, marriage is hard, but its not “too hard.” You can do it too.
And, if you don’t think marriage is in your current plans, take the lesson on how you deal with others. Invest deeply in the lives of others. Give yourself to something larger than yourself. Be devoted to the success of others through your consistent friendship. That is a true life of success.