Information Related to "Marriage -- "A Wonderful But Serious Thing""
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Marriage -- A Wonderful But Serious Thing By Robert Berendt It's a treasure that can last a lifetime if you prepare for it with care. It's a blessing if husbands and wives treat each other with godly love.
ur loving Creator made us male and female and stated that this was good (Genesis 1:27-31). God immediately went on to show the wonderful potential of marriage by inspiring the words of their union in Genesis 2:21-25. In His teaching in Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus Christ referred to the potential for happiness within marriage that God gave. There are eternal lessons to be learned in this holy union. Not only are humans happier when they work toward a family relationship that is godly, but also children (who take the better part of two decades to reach adulthood) need the stability of a home with mom and dad to have the best chance of becoming mature and responsible adults. The eternal lessons are derived from the parallels that marriage makes with the ultimate relationship of mankind and God (Ephesians 5:30-33).
Marriage God has made us all with hormones that kick in around the teenage years. He expects adults to teach the young self-control; and when maturity arrives, marriage is a natural step one takes to reach the highest level of human interaction that we can imagine. Mankind is good at ruining and destroying the beauty of God's creation and it is no different in our personal lives and thus marriage. For this reason, God has stated some strong and clear guidelines for our lives.
There are two of God's Ten Commandments that clearly address this important phase in our lives. God says, "You shall not commit adultery" and "you shall not covet your neighbor's wife." He also states in no uncertain terms that those who practice adultery or fornication (sex prior to marriage) will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). The commandments are written alongside "you shall not kill" and are just as serious. God takes our marriage vows seriously because the results of a broken marriage are long-lasting and devastating. God wants us to be as happy as possible in this life, and therefore He tells us how to live. We have the right to choose which way we are going to go so we can be happy or miserable. We should note that at conversion, even a person who has come out of a miserable and sad state is able to start fresh, in the sense that they are made clean and pure by Jesus' blood. Of course, once made pure by this precious blood, God expects us to remain pure (Romans 6:1-3). Family strength In Ecclesiastes 9:9, God tells us to live joyfully with the wife whom you love. This is a two-way street, and we can just as easily understand this to be to live joyfully with the husband whom you love. Marriage allows us to express the deepest kind of love to one another, a love based on trust. Without trust, a marriage cannot survive, at least not a marriage that is godly and happy.
Marriage is based on trust. When two people fear God, they will try harder to live as He directs. God intends for a marriage to last a lifetime, therefore before marriage, people need to be sure they have many things in common. Religious beliefs rank very high on that list. In fact, spiritual compatibility is the one factor that God commands in the Bible. A believer (one who is "in the Lord") must not choose to marry a nonbeliever (1 Corinthians 7:39). We need to give time to counseling and planning as we try to ensure that our marriages are as happy as possible. God clearly expects men and women to keep themselves sexually pure before marriage. It is a strong beginning for a long and happy marriage when each partner comes to the other as a virgin and gives themselves only to one another. That is the foundation of trust.
A holy, loving marriage Malachi 2:11-15 expresses God's anger at men who "deal treacherously" with their wives, meaning men who do not remain faithful to the marriage vows. He also refers to marriage as a holy institution and a "covenant." Husbands and wives should never let down in their efforts to build and maintain a lasting and loving marriage. God's people are different from the rest of the world in that they strive to obey God and to live according to His Word. We want to be like Him, and in marriage we are able to learn and to express many of His attributes. Love, sharing, giving, forgiving, wisdom, kindness, trustworthiness, patience, nobleness and goodness are a few that come to mind. The marriage will reflect the degree to which a husband and wife are succeeding in this. Our marriages reflect our godliness. None of us is perfect, and we are all walking this path together. Understanding our frailties and need for a close mate will go a long way towards making our lives as happy as they can be within the conditions we find ourselves.
We share each other's accomplishments and adventures in life in such a close way that we come to grasp in time what Adam meant when he said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (Genesis 2:23). We are to be as one in marriage, reflecting the ultimate goal that Jesus Christ so carefully recorded in John 17. Verse 21 states: "That they also may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." Marriage is wonderful. God intended it for men and for women. This society has so twisted and distorted that godly intent and concept that we can find ourselves at war with the society we live in. God's way is worth dying for and it is worth living for. Husbands and wives, and the young people who will one day be husbands and wives, have choices to make. We who have lived the biggest part of our lives hope and pray that the choices you make will allow God to bless you every day of your lives. Open your doors and let Him come in -- then there will be peace and contentment, excitement and adventure that leave no regrets, no scars, no sorrows and no tears. Marriage is from God and intended for all people. Use it wisely. For more on the subject of marriage, please request our free booklet . Copyright 2009 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved. |
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