Model Marriage by Bishop Dag Heward Mills

Chapter 25

The Key of Acceptance

It is important for every married couple to understand that people usually do not change much
when they get married. Couples, however, can choose to be happy in their marriages when they
learn to accept what they have.^1

Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made

crooked?

Ecclesiastes 7:13

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity,

which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy

portion in this life...

Ecclesiastes 9:9

God wants us to be joyful and happy. Happiness comes from accepting what we have and
getting along with it. Conflicts come about when we struggle with certain things we cannot
change.^2

Remember the prayer of St. Francis Xavier:
“God grant me the courage to change the things I can change; the serenity to accept the things
I cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference.”