Today, many question the viability and validity of marriage and openly wonder if it should continue to be esteemed as the bedrock of modern social development.
This write-up is a combination of knowledge acquired and summarised from prolific writers' and programmes attended.Also, the epidemic and explosive rise of the divorce rate adds further to the need of sharing this knowledge gathered on the blog....Enjoy your reading.Do have a wonderful weekend as the last weekend in the month of January.I say congratulations to you for the gift of life.
1.Marriage is Honorable
Some time ago during a singles and married programme I had the opportunity to attend a married couple who were at the verge of divorce shared their awful experience. The man began pouring hideout about how much he loved his wife, and yet nothing seemed to be working right.Continual pressure and friction in their relationship had brought them to the point of being ready to call it quits.Things had gotten so bad that they were not even sleeping in the same bed.As they unfolded their troubles the pastor shared with them the most basic cause of marital failure, which is when people do not understand that marriage itself is honorable, more so than those who are involved in it.
He said "success in marriage does not depend on spouses committing themselves to Each OTHER as much as it does to committing themselves to MARRIAGE, the unchanging institution that they have MUTUALLY entered into".
Marriage is a steady unchanging institution entered into by two people who are constantly changing as they grow and mature.Those changes can be unnerving and frustrating and can easily ignite conflict.Respect for the honorableness and stability of marriage can give a husband and wife a solid anchor that enables them weather the storm's of change as they grow toward oneness.
2. Know that, Marriage is Not Who You Love, But What You Love
The Bible represents marriage as an institution that should be highly respected and esteemed above all other institutions. Hebrews 13:4 says "Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." The King James Version reads, "Marriage is Honorable in all...." The term "Honorable", which also means "valuable, costly, honoured, esteemed, beloved and precious."All means "all".Marriage then should be valued and esteemed, and held in highest honour at all times in all things by all people everywhere. That is God's design for marriage.A common notion with most people is that the parties in a marriage- the husband and the wife- should honour each other and hold each-other in high esteem.One of the keys to a long and happy marriage is understanding that it is not whom you love, but what you love that is important.
3. It is expedient to always remember the popular adage that says "Change is the only constant thing": The person we marry is not the person we will live with, because that person is changing all the time.Today wife will change from the same woman you married, physically and all other way you can ever think of.Likewise the husband.That is why marriage itself is to be honoured and esteemed more than the two people who are in it.People change, but marriage is constant.So we must love marriage more than our spouse.
4.Finally, A successful marriage Depends on Knowledge
Knowledge is the answer.A successful marriage has little to do with love.Love does not guarantee success in marriage according to successful theorist in this institution. "Love is very important for happiness in marriage but by itself it cannot make a marriage work". The only thing that makes marriage work is knowledge.In Hoses 4:6a God says, "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge".My people refers to children of God.Even Christians need knowledge. Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline"....
Ultimately, marriage will not survive on love alone, or on feelings. By itself, just being born again is not enough to guarantee success. A successful marriage hinges on knowledge-knowing and understanding God's principles.
Thanks for reading!!!
To be continued next week Saturday....
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