Marriage In the christian home
Marriage in the Christian home is the hallmark of spiritual growth within the nuclear family unit. It facilitates contentment and bonds the members of a family together just as the Lord intended for it to be.
When you have two people, a man and a woman, who are dedicated to living together as one, in holy matrimony, and who are both spiritually inclined to create a home life that is centered on Jesus Christ with godly practices applied throughout their lives, their home is truly blessed.
It doesn't really seem to be the actual norm these days to come across those couples who are getting married or planning on it. Instead, you may find more people who are divorcing after only a few years of marriage, those who divorce after their children have all left the home, or those who are "sleeping around", or who are living with each other and not married. These are all sad scenarios of our family situations today and most definitely goes against the plan and purpose of God for the Christian home.
marriage is the symbol of the bride of christ
The love and sacrifice each one gives within their married bond is not only a symbol but also a spiritual illustration of how Jesus Christ loves us, and how He sacrificed for us. We are His bride, which is the church. Here are a few scriptural passages that help us understand this concept:
- Colossians 1:18 says, "And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may have the preeminence."
- 1 Corinthians 11:13 says, "But I would have you know, that the head of every man in Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God."
- Ephesians 5:25-32 tells us, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; That He may sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word; That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hateth his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."
the covenant of the marriage bond
When you get married you become bonded in a commitment to each other that requires love, sacrifice, honor, and respect. It is such a beautiful and righteous way to express one's devotion and dedication to another. There is a covenant you go into when you pledge yourself to your betrothed in holy matrimony. Marriage is a binding contract which is a divine and holy union from God, and one in which you and your beloved spouse agree to become as one, under His guidance, rule, leadership, and authority.
Furthermore, the Bible gives biblical instruction on how this committed covenant should operate practically and spiritually within the daily lives of the husband and wife.
Consider these biblical passages of scripture while applying them to this divine covenant bond of marriage:
- Malachi 2:14-15 tells us, "Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not He make one? Yet had He the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That He might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth."
- Jeremiah 31:31-32 says, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord."
- Matthew 19:4-6 also says, "And He answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. Wherefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
honoring your marriage vows
People have different views on what marriage might mean to them. Some worry that their future spouse may or may not make them happy, or that the thought of being with that person forever might cramp their style and dampen their plans in life.
I too used to think along these lines as a young bride, who longed for true wedded bliss and a happy home life with my then future husband. However, through the years as husband and wife, I learned that those vows we took had true divine meaning, even if we weren't sure what significance they had at that time as a young couple.
Nowadays couples want to rewrite their vows and make them more unique to their lifestyles together, which I feel is fine and all, as long as they both know and understand why they are getting married, and what is expected from each other and from God within their married bond. After all, you two will become one in the sight of God. That means that whatever one spouse does will ultimately affect the other.
According to MyWeddingVows.com, a non-denominational simple vow may go something like this: " I ________, take thee _________, to be my husband/wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you forevermore." This is wonderful and meaningful to say to each other on your wedding day, within the marriage ceremony, but I wonder just how many of us who said those words really understood them and the significance of their meaning.
Here are a few biblical passages in God's Word that will describe and instruct us on what God had in mind when He designed marriage, the love that comes along with it, as well as the commitment that is required within its covenant:
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 talks about love in that, "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
- 1 Corinthians 7:1-16 instructs us concerning how we are to conduct ourselves within the marriage contract, "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man has his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry that to burn. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now they are holy. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?"
- 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, " Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And lastly, in marriage there is submission and subjection to each other:
- 1 Peter 3:1-7 says " Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God a great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."
In conclusion, there can be true peace and contentment when both husband and wife enter into their marriage with Christ as the head and center of their relationship, obeying all the commands given to them according to His word.
Married life can be so special and meaningful when entered into with your Lord as Savior over all. In addition to that, those children that come from your union will have the basic spiritual foundations set in place for their own Christian marriages to come. That is when you begin to see the rewards of what true wedded bliss is all about.
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