Forgive us as we forgive our spouse who sins against us

Lord, You know how often we fail to love one another. Forgive
us as we forgive our spouse who sins against us. Lord, You know how easy it is
bail out of marriage mentally and spiritually, how fickle our hearts are when it
comes to human relationships. Forgive us as we forgive our spouse who sins
against us. Lord, You see how easily offended we are, how tenderly we treat our
own feelings yet how cutting and cruel we can be with our tongues to this other
we say we love. Forgive us as we forgive our spouse who sins against us. Lord,
You know how easily the heart is drawn away from one's spouse toward another
person, another task, another achievement. Forgive such hearts of adultery,
Lord, as we forgive our spouse who sins against us. Lord, You see how our lips
pay service to the idea that we submit one to another, yet our actions betray
us. We say one thing, yet try to control our mate by manipulating, brow-beating,
demeaning, ignoring, denying affection. Forgive us, Lord, as we forgive our
spouse who sins against us. Thank You, Lord, for Your forgiveness. Thank you for
the transforming power of the Gospel that makes all things -- including marriage
itself -- brand new. You are the Lord of love. Thank You, thank You, thank You
for this other you have given us. Fill our hearts with love and with a zeal to
love in action as well as emotion and word. And fill us with Your Holy Spirit so
that we never turn our backs on You, on Your love, or on the love our mate
brings to us. That love, we know, is of You and from You. We receive it with
humility, gratitude, and glad tears. AMEN.

My friends Jon and Carol Trott wrote this prayer a few years back when they were speaking (well, Jon was speaking, Carol was sharing!) at a conference. It's blessed me in so many ways and I wanted to make it easily accessible, so I'm posting it here. You can read their entire seminar here: http://www.highromance.com/articles/jtarticles/cbe2002.htm