Walk Of Life – Day 23 March 2022 – March With The Words Of Jesus Christ
March to Work On Your Marriage
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Matthew 5: 31-32
When God created Adam and Eve, He intended the relationship of marriage to be kept till death do them apart. The law of divorce was given to mankind on account of unfaithfulness only because man’s heart was hard. “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning” Matthew 19:8. But the original pattern allows no separations in marital relationship. In Matthew 19:6 Lord Jesus clarifies this “So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
Marriage is a holy union in God’s sight and He has often expressed His relationship with His people as bride and bridegroom. When His chosen people were unfaithful and worshipped false gods, Lord expressed his grieving heart through Prophet Hosea’s life. In obedience Hosea had to marry an unclean woman who would often be unfaithful to him. God commanded Hosea to show love to her just like God was showing love and patience to unfaithful Israel working out ways to redeem and reconcile with them again.
Today God’s children just like Gomer are being unfaithful by running after power, pleasure, money and recognition. What if according to the Law of unfaithfulness God chooses to divorce with his church? Then where will we stand? If a Holy God chooses to accept us and promises to sanctify us to keep us blameless till His coming, how much more one need to value the relationship with spouses and work out their differences.
The Word of God shows us how we can work our marriage.
Daily Family Altar – Lord Jesus should be the center of the married life. Family prayers places a vital role in a happy marriage. Meditating scriptures as a family, worshiping and praying together helps in building a healthy family.
Understand Your Roles Properly – God made man and woman with unique and complementary characteristics. When God said man is the head of woman, He did not mean that he is supreme or better than woman. He rather meant that man has a leadership role which involves dealing with external matters and making decisions whereas woman has an active role to run the home and care for her family in an orderly manner. I Corinthians 11:3 says, “But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
Submission – Submission is mutual commitment and cooperation. Submission does not mean that one is superior to the other. It is done among equals. Lord Jesus being equal to God submitted to Him to carry out the plans of salvation. Likewise, both husband and wife are called to submit. For a woman it means submit to her husband’s leadership. For man it means to put aside his own interest to take care of his wife. Ephesians 5:21 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Respect And Honor One Another Above Yourselves – One should not feel that he/she is more righteous, superior, smarter, tidier or efficient than the other. One should accept one another with their weakness just as God accepted us with ours. Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Be A Good Friend To One Another – Just as God considers us a friend and shared about the kingdom of heaven to us, partners should share all their plans, thoughts and feelings with one another. Their relationship should be based on complete transparency. John 15:15 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
Love One Another – 1 Corinthians 13:4,5 says “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.” Verse 7 “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
Communicating With One Another – Conflicts are bound to arise in marriages which can be only solved by talking with one another, forgiving and if needed taking counsel of a trusted elder.
Failing to follow the Word, many take resort to divorce instead of living humbly and peacefully with one another. Personally, for me most of my battles in my married life I have won on my knees. Even though sometimes it is a painful and long process for God to act on my behalf, He has always proved himself faithful. So take all your marital issues to God in prayer and wait for him to work on your behalf.
