As Christians, we are all aware of the fact that marriage is an institution ordained by God for a very specific purpose. First, God is a God of order, so that’s reflected in everything He does along with everything He’s doing. He has instituted marriage between a man and a woman not only for them to procreate so that family can become the main pillar of society but to build and nurture an intimate relationship between both of them.
Marriage is a lifelong commitment in which the man has to give himself totally to his wife, so is the woman. Marriage is a great privilege that the Creator of this universe has granted us, and He wants us to take that covenant very seriously. Marriage is an institution which has lot of importance in the sight of God, even though we’re living in a time where marriage is under lot of attacks from the enemy. This covenant is being trampled under feet to the extent that it apparently becomes something that seems to lose its true essence.
As believers who are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), our marriage should have served as an example of what God is doing through us. Sadly, it’s a total shame to see that Christian marriages are breaking at almost the same rate as unbelievers. The problem is that we have the Word of God, Christ’s death and resurrection, the power of God operating within us through His Spirit, so we have everything we need to ensure that our marriages become a success. Unfortunately, there’s not a major difference between the instability and divorce rate within that institution among Christians and unbelievers.
When The Word Of God Isn’t Where It’s Supposed to be All Types of Problems Will Arise.
If we’re tracing where all the problems marriage is facing today it’s because the Word of God is not the core foundation of that covenant. It can either be both people or one of them are not willing to submit themselves to the authority of Scripture. Let’s ponder on this Scripture verse below in order for us to get a clear insight regarding mutual submission.
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21).
We need to understand that marriage is built purely on sacrifices. You don’t enter that covenant for the sake of seeking your own personal interests, the interests of your family, or with the intent to do what you want in accordance with the selfishness that you’re harboring in your heart, but instead to do what God has commanded you to do on behalf of the person that you’re married to. The truth is that when you enter such covenant the woman’s battles have become her husband battles, so the same applies to the woman with respect to her husband’s struggles.
If you claim that you love your spouse, since love is built on making sacrifices on behalf of the person you claim that you love, you must be willing to have that person’s best interests at heart. So you have to be willing to lay aside your own agenda and ambition in order for you to do anything that will strengthen that covenant. You have to do everything that you can within the boundary that God has set in order for to satisfy your spouse. And anything that will become an impediment when it comes down to peace, joy, happiness, and comfort must be kept out.
Having a Strong Relationship With God is Critical.
Enter such covenant demands a healthy relationship with God as well. Why? Everything that you’ll do in that covenant has to to be done as a result of your love for God. It’s staggering to see that God has even commanded the man to love his wife as Christ has loved the church. This is known as unconditional, sacrificial, and selfless love. So the only way that husbands can love their wives as God wants them to do so is by allowing Christ Jesus to work in their hearts in order to enable them to accept and love their wives in such a fashion that honors and glorifies God. In this case, how a husband treats his wife in the sight of God determines his character in Christ.
Christ says that in (John 14:15) if you love Me, you’ll keep my commandments. Therefore if you claim that you love God wholeheartedly, then you should take seriously the very responsibilities that God has entrusted you toward the one you’re married to. You can’t claim that you love God while you’re mistreating your spouse.
Within that covenant both husband and wife are God’s representative to their own children. The way they live will have a huge impact on them. The bottom line is that how a husband treats his wife is exactly how he treats God himself, so is the wife. Besides, how you treat your spouse determines how effective your prayer life is (1 Peter 3:7). If a husband is smart enough, he should realize that the worst thing that can ever happen to his relationship with God is to have his prayers hindered due to his bad treatment of his wife. Well, that pretty much what that verse says.
Conclusion
The question that Christian married couples should ask themselves is how do you see that covenant in the light of what God has commanded you to do? Do you see it as an union in which the presence of God should dwell on a constant basis or as an union where Satan is allowed to manipulate you in order to bring down that great institution? The reason is that there are so many marriages nowadays, the way things are being conducted along with how people live, there’s not a single indication that shows that Christ is reigning in these marriages.
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