John
3:29a “The bride belongs
to the bridegroom.”
Gary
Thomas continues by stating that marriage is a spiritual enterprise for God to
reveal Himself to us and to shape our souls, It is only is the scale of human
history that “romance” has become the basis for marriage. Romance is not God’s
reason for marriage. If romance was the expectation, the marriage would fail
because that is not the true purpose. According to Neuroscience, if you are
infatuated with someone, the romantic infatuation will last only 36 months at
the longest … the “honeymoon period” ends. The power storm of emotion will dissipate
naturally. If marriage is built on infatuation, it is doomed to failure. Holy
Scripture says that we all stumble in
many ways, one of which is a marriage base on infatuation. Romance’s “storm
of emotion” and “heat of passion” is a trivial reason for marriage; there must
be something much deeper, solid and lasting. Disappointment is based upon
missed expectations and starting with “unrealistic expectations” is a recipe
for disappointment. Marriage is not about “being young together”; rather it is
about “growing old together”.
Ephesians
5:24-27 “Now as the church
submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in
everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the
church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her
by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to
himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other
blemish, but holy and blameless.”
We
need to become a God-centered spouse. A spouse-centered spouse bases the
marriage relationship on what the other spouse thinks and does. If we stumble
in many ways, the stumbling will produce a vicious cycle without end. Don’t go
there. A God-centered spouse says ‘I’m obligated to love my spouse out of my
reverence for God. According to Matthew
6:33, the Lord says; “Seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to
you as well.”
2
Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having
these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Our
spouse is a Child of God. To transform our marriages, meditate on the fact that
God as your “Father-in-Law”. As a parent, you will know about the
“unconditional love” of God, if you remember the love that you have for your
precious son or daughter unconditionally. Child of God, your heavenly Father
created the family unit and the loving relationships were designed into them.
The parent loves their child. Your heavenly Father loves his children in the
family of God. God is your Father and your wife’s Father, therefore, your
heavenly Father-in-Law. Honor, respect and love your spouse, even though they
stumble. Cherish them and make them feel safe, secure and loved. Love them
first out of reverential fear of letting Father God down. Love them for who
they are and who God made them to be, not as one who stumbles in many ways.
What makes marriage work is a biblical gospel-centered love.
1
Corinthians 7:3 “Let the husband
render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her
husband.”
We
were blinded in our sin and our expectations that were programmed by the
god-rejecting world system, which looks for love and happiness in the wrong
places. The love of God offers so much more. If we are loved unconditionally
with the love of God, then how can we not love our spouse (His daughter or son
also). The challenge is to make our homes a picture of God’s reconciling love. Our Almighty Creator Father God gave us
marriage in order to teach us how to love unconditionally. That is the purpose
of marriage.
In
Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment