The well-known Bible teacher, writer and televangelist Joyce Meyer and her husband, Dave, are celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary.
They were married on January 7, 1967 and had four children: Laura Marie Holtzmann, Daniel B. Meyer, Sandra Ellen McCollom and David Meyer.
Known for her TV show, Joyce Meyer recently sat down to talk about the success in marriage, despite her painful past, and shared advice for a healthy relationship.
Raped by her father “at least 200 times” when she was a teenager, Joyce’s testimony has inspired those struggling to find hope, telling them that recovery is always possible, no matter the past challenges.
Dave, an engineering draftsman and army veteran, is vice president of Joyce Meyer Ministries and worked at full-time ministry by almost 30 years, according to sources. The 78-year-old woman has said many times that without her husband’s wisdom in finance and administration, Joyce Meyer Ministries, which includes Hand of Hope, would not be what it is today.
Joyce Meyer explained that when she first heard God’s call to enter the ministry, Dave was not in agreement with her decision. However, she decided to follow her calling and let God take care of Dave. Meyer said that just three weeks later, Dave came to her and said he realized she had an anointing on her life to make, and he would go along with whatever decision she made.
Soon after, Meyer started a Bible study group that started with a few ladies from her work and quickly grew to a group of up to 500 people from her church. She also started her own radio show.
It took the Meyer family five years to start their own ministry called Life in the World. It was Dave’s idea to start a TV show, “Everyday Life”, in the early 90’s.
The couple has over 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
In the following interview Joyce Meyer shares about the success of her marriage of more than five decades:
You and Dave have a strong and prosperous marriage. Why do you think it’s been so successful?
I think it’s a success because we stopped trying to change each other. And I think it succeeds because we’re both committed to doing what we believe God would want us to do.
I remember years ago when Dave and I shook hands and I looked at him and said, “I accept you just the way you are”, and he looked at me and said, “I accept you just the way you are.” That was the beginning of having longevity in our relationship.
What advice would you give to a couple who are experiencing difficulties in their marriage?
You know, Dave and I went through some really tough times. I think in every relationship it’s easy to give up — it’s easy to say we can’t make it work.
But you can go to God and say, “What do you want me to do to improve this situation?” Sometimes you have to treat a person well for a long time before you start reaping in the field you are sowing.
If I do what’s right and it never satisfies the other person and they decide they want to do something else, there’s nothing I can do about it. But I will do what is right by God’s grace and mercy and let Him do what only He can do.
Is it possible for our marriage to last if we don’t share the same goals or have the same idea of the future?
I think that if attitudes are kept right, God can change hearts.
When I first felt that God was calling me into ministry, to be honest, Dave just said, “Well, that’s not what I want to do.” And I really felt that God put the following in my heart: “You do what I set your heart to do, keep a good attitude and I’ll take care of Dave.”
And it was literally just three weeks and Dave came up to me and said, “You know, God really showed me that you have an anointing in your life to do this and so I I just want you to know that I will support you in everything you do.” God can change a person’s heart.
What other tips to have a great wedding?
Well, a good marriage happens for a purpose.
Every day when I get up, I propose to have a good marriage. I won’t accidentally have a good relationship with Dave. I often have to pray and ask the Lord to give me a creative idea of a way to bless Dave.
Giving and receiving forgiveness is also important.
Forgiveness is the key ingredient to every successful relationship.
So many people carry exceptions to their love offer. “I love you, but you really hurt my feelings yesterday.” Or “I love you, but I’m too tired, too busy, too distracted, too angry, too angry, too unhappy to be nice to you right now.”
True love simply says, “I love you!” No exceptions!
Occasionally requires a divine confrontation.
Hasty words spoken without thinking about them often cause tremendous problems.
I believe that we should not only be careful with our words to people, but also with our thoughts before God.
There have been many times when I have thought about how I would handle a situation, and God has let me know that this is not how He wants me to handle it.
And remember, timing is everything.
Timing is extremely important in good communication. We can get ourselves into trouble by not choosing the right time to speak. There is a time to talk about a problem and there is a time to leave it alone.
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