Week 42: Marriage & Faith Go Together
Read Time: 2.8 min
God established marriage as one way to fulfill His purposes on earth while at the same time creating a way to enrich life for those choosing to marry. In the New Testament, marriage is even used as a metaphor to illustrate the relationship of Jesus to His body of believers, the church.
The essence of the marriage relationship centers around a profound love of a husband and wife for one another, much like God’s great love is the essence of His relationship with each of us— His creation. As it is written in biblical scripture, “God is love”, and to the extent a couple truly love one another they experience a God presence in their marriage.
Maintaining a union with Jesus and maintaining a good relationship in marriage involves the same elements of respect, redemption, communication, forgiveness, love, fidelity, and shared purpose. When each spouse is committed to living out the gospel message of Jesus, a marriage will be able to realize its full potential for spiritual development.
The efforts involved in honoring Jesus Christ and honoring a spouse are mutually reinforcing endeavors, and this is why both a love for Jesus and the love for a spouse go hand in hand in bringing about a deeper faith in God and a better marriage.
Marriage can be so much more than just companionship, estate, and children. Christian faith and marriage can interact in such a way as to actually deepen both spiritual beliefs and the bond of marriage.
When each spouse is committed to living out the gospel message of Jesus, a marriage will be able to realize its full potential for spiritual development.
Some Things To Do For The Week
Day 2: Reflect on the message and scripture reading; journal if you like
Day 3: Pray for or meditate on what you think you need
Day 4: Discuss the message and scripture with your spouse
Day 5: Plan how you can best respond to the message
Day 6: Rest; don’t think about the message or the scripture; listen in the stillness
Day 7: Recommit yourself to your marriage
Applicable scripture listed under Discussion References.