Holy Matrimony
This past weekend my family and I attended a beautiful wedding reception. The bride looked radiant as all brides do, and of course the groom was full of smiles. I couldn’t help but hope that the joy they were experiencing at the reception would last a lifetime. Those of us who have a few years of marriage under our belts, know that marriage is not always rainbows and kisses. There are great days, and some not so great days. There are ups and downs. There are twists and turns and there may even be some disappointments along the way. It’s called life!
Whether you choose to marry or stay single, life is still going to happen to us all. When we marry someone, we are choosing the person that can be our lifelong partner to navigate the strong waves and currents of life.
We are making a commitment to love that person unconditionally just as God loves us, no matter how hard the winds of life may blow. Only death should be what separates us from our spouse.
So you may be thinking how is this even possible?
Here are 10 keys to a healthy marriage.
- Only with the help of God, can we enjoy marriage in the way that God has purposed it to be. Allow God to be the head of your marriage. Honor Him with your marriage and your marriage will be blessed.
- It requires putting your spouse’s needs ahead of yourself at times. It requires living a selfless life.
- It means being willing to forgive offenses that may occur. Both partners should ask for forgiveness quickly and be willing to forgive quickly. Don’t let things fester.
- Praying with your spouse is also a key component to a strong and healthy marriage. Study God’s Word together and also worship together. Keep the enemy from your doorstep.
- Communication is also key. Share your feelings, wants, needs and desires with your mate. Don’t leave them constantly guessing or trying to read your mind.
- Keep dating. Keep romance alive in your marriage.
- Make important decisions together.
- Speak to each other respectfully and honestly. Even when you are upset try to choose your words wisely. It may even be best to calm down first, before having a difficult conversation. Another good thing to do is to pray together before having a difficult discussion.
- Never publicly embarrass your mate.
- When you hit a tough spot that you just cannot navigate your way through, pray together first. And if it’s still hard to get on the same page, go and see a good Christian counselor. Don’t allow too much water to get under the bridge that you are at a place of no return.
- Set goals, live life with zest, enjoy one another
Genesis 2:18-25
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam[a] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[b] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[c] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Matthew 19:4-6
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Mark 10:9
9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
1 Peter 3:7
7 Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
Ephesians 5:21-25
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Colossians 3:18-19
18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Ephesians 4:2-3
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Ephesians 5:28-33
28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[a] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 4:32
32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
1 Corinthians 7:2-5
2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Romans 12:10
10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
