Fireproof It

Chad and I had date night last night - our first in quite some time - and we went to go see "Fireproof" which I blogged about a few days ago and wanted to go see. It DEFINITELY lived up to everything I had heard about it. I cried through the whole thing and so did my tender hearted husband.
There were several comments that really stayed with me and are on my mind even today that the actors said in the movie.
One was about respect. Kirk Cameron, who plays Caleb, complains about his wife not giving him respect. Actually, he didn't complain about it, he raged about it, which got me to thinking. How many other husbands feel the same way? In this day and age, respect seems like such an old fashioned idea to so many...kids don't respect their parents, students don't respect their teachers, so why in the world should two grown adults, who have seen each other's vulnerabilities and mishaps respect each other, right? I think that a lot of marital problems (including fights I have with my own husband) stem from a lack of showing respect towards each other and in my case, I know that I don't show my own husband the respect he deserves at times. I think that there are a lot of reasons for this...but the the main one is that there is too much Kelley and not enough God. We are commanded to do unto others as we would have done to us...commanded. And I truly believe that respect is the main point in that commandment.
Another comment from the movie had to do with the couple doing the Love Dare book. At the beginning, Caleb has a somewhat apathetic view of God, which makes doing the Love Dare "doable" but not truly genuine. In all cases with loving someone and choosing to love someone, if God is not the center, you WILL fail. Humans are evil and selfish. Unfortunately, that has been our birthright since Adam's fall. We are incapable of loving someone, truly selflessly loving another, without some supernatural help. We may feel like we love someone and be on an emotional high, but with all highs, they eventually end and reality sets in. Without the love of Christ in our hearts and minds, we will give in to our emotions and not be able to make the choice to love someone.
The tagline of "Fireproof" is "never leave your partner behind." How many of us leave our partners behind every day, ignoring them, not respecting them, not treating them fairly? If you are married, you have made a choice, signified with a ring, that the other person is your partner for life. That is a sacred covenant before a holy God. It should frighten you and it makes me seek to find ways to continue to honor that covenant, even through the hottest fires.