Marriage is the foundation of civilized society
With all the disillusionment about our political leaders and institutions, it’s easy to focus only on the latest crisis or outrage. We should not forget that as believers we must prioritize Christian living. For this article let’s discuss godly marriage.
Yeah, a discussion of godly marriage is not as “sexy” as fixing blame on the opposite political party for our nation’s problems. That’s too easy. Discussing marriage, forces us to examine our roles and responsibilities.
Part of our responsibility is understanding that marriage is a creation of God and not of government. What is the ramification of this understanding? You begin to understand that God foreknew all of the benefits under His plan for us.
What are those benefits? They are many blessings. Here a few: love, sex within wedlock, the bearing and raising of children, support and commitment.
It is in godly marriage that couples live biblical principles of forgiveness, humility, faith, selflessness and monogamy. Now there are some virtues rarely stressed in our current culture.
If marriage was exalted as the foundation of civilized society as it should be, the aforementioned virtues would be commonplace.
He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord. Proverbs 18 :22 ,New King James Version
Marriage symbolizes our relationship with God
Godly marriage forces us to mature and cleave to a partner for life. Your spouse becomes your most intimate friend and confidant, knowing your strengths and shortcomings.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they. shall become one flesh. –Genesis 2:24 NKJV
The marriage relationship in many ways reflects the relationship we are to have with God. Our Heavenly Father knows us inside and out and desires an intimate relationship with His children. We can take any problem, any worry, any sorrow, any praise to God .
Men learn a deeper love in matrimony. A husband develops manly virtues, a selfless love with a willingness to lay down his life to protect his wife and family, just like Jesus did for the church.
Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. —Ephesians 5:25
Loving our wives like Christ loves the church means seeking and doing the best for her. More deeply , it means providing ,protecting and encouraging her.
Oh and it doesn’t end there. Men are to be the spiritual leaders in their home , putting God first in everything.
Christian marriages instill a love of God in children
Putting God first gives a proper perspective in a couple’s marriage, leading to stability. Within this stability, children can be properly reared.
Properly raising a child means first instilling a love for God in their hearts. How is this done? First, children must see their parents putting God first. Next, children learn to love God through seeing how their parents love God by glorifying him in their speech and the marriage relationship.
What parents are teaching children is accountability to God. Children must know that nothing is hidden from God and that he sees every action. This is huge.
Within the context of accountability, children learn about love, respect for authority, respect for their elders, the value of work and the importance of honoring the family name. Boys and girls learn different aspects of the virtues of strength, courage, integrity and loyalty from from both parents.
America is experiencing the danger of not protecting God’s marriage plan
Given all the blessings of godly marriage to a family and a culture, you would think governments would be more apt to protect it. Unfortunately they’re more prone to letting marriage wane. America is learning the bitter fruits of not protecting God’s design of marriage and changing the meaning of it.
Many Americans look around , stunned at the current level of darkness and evil in their country. They ask, How did this happen?
Could it have something to do with the current state of marriage? Remember, marriage changed in America in 2015 after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in the Obergefell v. Hodges case.
What many forget is that the sexual revolution of the 1960’s and 70’s along with no-fault divorce, were grave assaults to the institution and denigrating its importance. One could argue these assaults weakened marriage , paving the way for the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Is it any wonder why God hates divorce and why fornication and adultery are pathologically destructive sins? God knows the harm these things can do to a people and a nation.
If Christians are to be God’s light of revival for this collapsing nation, we have to prioritize fundamentals of godly living. Fundamentals are the basics of any endeavor and provide a foundation to build upon.
The foundation is the base of anything, be it a sport , a profession or a house. Let us use the house analogy for the sake of our argument.
A foundation supports everything in a house, from the flooring to the walls. A bad foundation can cause a structure to collapse. If you ever experienced a home renovation, now you know why the contractor inspected your home’s foundation for problem areas.
One important piece of America’s foundation is marriage. It is vitally important that Christians put God first in our unions.
Our sole purpose is to honor and glorify God and when we do so in our marriages ,we show the world that marriage is more than a license issued by the state. Putting God first, speaks with our actions that marriage is a covenant with our Heavenly Father.