Every married man should use this year as a time to become better in all aspects of life. As the Lord's mercies are new every morning, every day presents an opportunity to be better, to grow wiser, and to dig deeper in our fellowship with the Lord.

An invitation

Guys, let's all challenge ourselves to be the best that we can be this year. Of course, this requires us to give our best. Here are a few things every married man should desire in 2018.

1) To love God with all our heart, soul, and strength

"Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)

The Lord Jesus, our very Lord and Master, said the greatest command given to us is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. It's a command that we ought to delight in observing all the time. After all, God loves us before we could ever love Him.

As men loved by God, we ought to desire to love Him with all that we are, with all that we have, and all that we will ever have. This includes our thoughts, our ambitions, our dreams, our efforts, our capacities, our riches, and everything that we have.

2) To love our wife as Christ loved the church

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:25-27)

To some, marriage may come second after self or career or personal ambitions. To godly married men who fear God and follow Christ, however, marriage is second only to God, and that's a non-negotiable. Anything that tries to disrupt or destroy our marriages we shun and drive away, even if it means offending others.

That said, we will do well to make it our life's goal - not just in 2018 - to love our respective wives as Christ loved the church. The Lord Jesus was and continues to be relentless and faithful in His love for us; we ought to be relentless and faithful in our love for our spouses as well.

3) To grow in every area we need to grow in

We admit that no man is perfect, no matter how much we try to get better at things every single time. Thus, we must choose to grow in every area we need to grow in.

This means taking a long, hard look at ourselves to reveal our flaws. Unless we are honest enough to admit that we've been failing in our marriages, our families, our jobs, our ministries, our personal convictions, our fight against sin and lust, we will never make the necessary steps to grow and improve.

Let's choose to grow in God! Let's choose to follow Christ Jesus and be molded into His likeness!