A Christian Marriage

“And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”   Genesis 2:23-24

They shall be one flesh….

This means that when you take vows as husband and wife, you are no longer your own person.  You now belong to your spouse and to your spouse only.  And your spouse belongs to you.  You no longer have the right to live as you please.

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord….Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.”  Ephesians 5:22 & 25

With the deterioration of the family, the high divorce rate and the ever-increasing occurrences of adultery, it is imperative that the Christian couple live according to God’s Word.

The Bible makes it clear that God intends marriage to be between one man and one woman for life.  A Christian couple is to have a marriage that honors each other and God. (Ephesians 5:22&23)

The marriage of a Christian couple is to emulate the relationship between Christ and the Church.  The only way to do that is to submit to God’s authority, to make sure He is the center of the marriage, and to put the other person before selfish desires.

A wife is to voluntarily submit to the husband’s authority as she submit’s to God’s authority.  This is not to say that he treat her as a slave, or that she is to go against God’s will.

A husband is to sacrificially love the wife and put her needs before his own – loving her as Christ loved the Church.

The only One that is to be put before the other is God.

“Husbands, ye likewise, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”  I Peter 3:7

Husbands are to have an unselfish spirit toward their wives, understanding her needs, her strengths and weaknesses.  If his relationship with his wife is not what it should be, his relationship with God can not be what it should be and his prayers will be hindered.

Mutual love and devotion makes each one dependent on the other.  Serving the other best serves the marriage and self.

“So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies, He that loveth his wife loveth himself.”  Ephesians 5:28

“She was not made out of his head to surpass him,

nor from his feet to be trampled on,

but from his side to be equal to him,

and near his heart to be dear to him.”