When I hear people say that they would never get married, that marriage isn’t for them, or that they couldn’t imagine spending their whole life with the same person, it always saddens me. How could something that God created for good be so awful in someone’s eyes?
The truth is many people have the wrong perception of marriage. Their view of it is so distorted that they are losing the real meaning of marriage. Looking at it through the world’s view and living it the way the world says will lead to this type of thinking. But what if your marriage looked like how God describes it to be?
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church…He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated their own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” Ephesians 5:25-33
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10
“Be kind of each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32
“In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you love together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life.” 1 Peter 3:7
Marriage can be such a wonderful thing! You have to commit to give it your all though. We often hear marriage is 50/50 but really you need to give it 100%! Why would we only give our spouse half of our best everyday?
In Ecclesiastes it says that “Two are better than one…If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.” God designed marriage to be a partnership. It takes work, but all good things take work.
Dave Willis said “A husband and wife function like two wings on the same bird. They must work together or the marriage will never get off the ground.” I love that quote because it creates such a great illustration in my mind of how we are better together. Sometimes it feels so much easier at times to just do our own thing than to work together, but God tells us that two are better than one. He created woman to be a helper for man. Being husband and wife isn’t enough, you have to be a team!
I love feeling that I have someone by my side each and every day, someone who has my best interest at heart, and vice versa. It hasn’t always been like this. We’ve been married 17 years now and the first half of our marriage I realized that my husband and I were busy doing our own separate things instead of working together as a unified team. We both realized we had to wake up and make some serious changes!
If you also are feeling like you and your spouse aren’t exactly on the same page and you’re ready for a change – you’re ready for your marriage to be all that God says it can be, start by praying Philippians 2:2 over your marriage “Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.”
Maybe you’re thinking “okay that’s great and all, but what do I do next?” If you feel like talking to someone would benefit your marriage, here at Unity Marriage Ministry we also offer marriage coaching. We would love to help your relationship reach that next level with Jesus!