Marriage as God would have it

Written by Bill Bryant.

"So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking." (NIV) Ephesians 4:17

It has been well said, “As the home goes, so goes society". The same is true of the church. Each congregation will only be as successful as the sum total of its Christian homes. God intended the home to be the basic building block of society. Its success, or failure, does not come by accident. God has provided in His Holy and Divine Word all the instruction needed for successful homes. If our homes fail, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We begin today a short series of articles on the kind of marriage that would please God. Outside of our relationship with God, no relationship influences our eternal destiny more than marriage.

For our marriage to please God, it is important to build it on a strong and scriptural foundation. Every week thousands of couples meet with marriage counselors and identify the problems of their spouses:selfishness, adultery, lying, angry outbursts, resentment, abusive speech, malice, sexual perversion, greediness, envy, jealousy, drunkenness, carousing, etc. What they seek are marriage partners who are loving, truthful, kind, tender-hearted, forgiving, wise, understanding, compassionate, humble, meek, patient, peaceful, joyful, gentle, and faithful. What they have done, in essence, is catalogue sins (the transgression of God’s law). What they want their spouses to be perfectly characterizes the “new man in Christ” mentioned in the Scriptures (Eph. 4:17 – 5:20 / Col. 3:1-17 / Gal. 5:16-24).

The conclusion, therefore, is that people who exhibit the “new nature” that Christ desires will also possess the nature that every spouse desire. The best guarantee that our marriages will be great is to live great Christian lives. Faithful, loving, and mature Christians make faithful, loving, and mature marriage partners. Our first priority in making the necessary changes in our lives needs to be to please our Savior. Needed changes must be made EVEN IF our spouse may not be so inclined because the Lord has commanded it from us as His people. We must want to be like our Heavenly Father (Matt. 5:45), especially at home. Do you have the new nature of Christ in you?

Marriage is still God's idea (II) || More

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