Building The Body Study 17 - Wives and Husbands
Ephesians 5:22-33 NIV
[22] Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. [24] Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. [25] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her [26] to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, [27] and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. [28] In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [29] After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— [30] for we are members of his body. [31] “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” [32] This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. [33] However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.5.22-33.NIV)
Now we come to some of the most controversial verses for modern culture in all of the Bible.
I’d like you to imagine a man who has grown tired of the cold rigidity of the bricks in the walls of his house. He wants something with a bit of flexibility that can be remodelled easily according to his desire and design. So he decides to rip them all out and replace them with bricks made from plasticine.
What will happen to his house?
Now look around you. See how our societies are crumbling. How some of our young people are almost feral in behaviour. How there is an epidemic of loneliness. A lack of confidence. A lack of resilience. A plague of mental health issues.
Do you know where all of this comes from?
Our cultures have thrown out the Biblical model of family life because they believe it is too rigid, and have replaced it with something more flexible and pliable.
It hasn’t worked.
So before we criticise the Biblical model for being out of date, let’s look at the crisis around us and consider that what we see here could be the answer.
Before we get into this text and see what it actually teaches (not what either our left or right wing scholars say it teaches), we must first understand The Context.
The Context
Genesis 2:23-25 NIV
[23] The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” [24] That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. [25] Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.2.23-25.NIV)
Many years ago, when I was just eighteen years old, I was on my first international mission team in Costinești, Romania. Costinești is a student resort on the Black Sea Coast. You can imagine that all sorts of things happen there.
We'd decided to have an early morning prayer meeting on top of a nearby cliff. We were finishing up and a few of us walked towards the edge of the cliff to take pictures of the sunrise.
The morning light allowed us to see something we did not expect. There below us, in a relatively conservative Eastern European nation, doing yoga before the rising sun, were a group of nudists.
I didn’t now quite where to point my camera.
What was your reaction when you heard that little story? Shock? Disgust? Indignation?
Yet in the Bible we read that when God instituted marriage (and it is a Divine institution), Adam and Eve were buck naked.
We need to fully understand this context to understand what else is going on in our verses in Ephesians 5.
So what does this mean?
There are a few stages to this.
Firstly, we see An Incomplete Creation. That is, man was created first, he needed a helper (Genesis 2:20), so God created a woman. There is no sense here that either is inferior to the other. There is simply the sense that both man and woman needed each other to be complete. That’s why, in Divine mathematics, one plus one can equal one: the man and the woman come together and make a complete whole (Genesis 2:24).
There is also a sense of An Equal Creation. The Bible commentator Matthew Henry’s comments on this verse are very striking:
‘The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.’
In other words, the very fact of how Eve was created tells us that women were never intended to be a subordinated, inferior Creation.
We also see A United Creation: man and woman were designed to be one flesh, one unit, one person. As it says in Genesis:
Genesis 2:24 NIV
[24] That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.2.24.NIV)
And as Jesus Himself commented:
Matthew 19:4-6 NIV
[4] “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ [5] and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? [6] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.19.4-6.NIV)
So what we see from the Creation narrative is that God planned from the very beginning for a man and a woman to be united in marriage, both physically and spiritually, and for this marriage to unite them in one flesh, as one single unit.
When my wife arrived in the UK on a spouse visa, we were already on a countdown to get her documents ready to apply for settlement – Indefinite Leave to Remain as it was called them. To do that, we needed to prove that we had resided together for the time she had been in the country. The only way we could do that was to get both of our names together on everything: bank accounts, utility bills, tax bills – the lot. I had the job of calling round vendors and companies and government offices to set it up.
It was astonishingly hard to do, despite both the request and the reasoning behind it being very clear. I was very surprised at the number of calls I had where call centre agents were bewildered by what I was asking and had to check with their managers if it was even possible.
The reason why is because the principle of being one flesh is just not on most people’s agenda today. They are afraid of the consequences. Their concept one flesh is basically just sex.
But in the Bible it goes further than that.
After it talks of being one flesh in Genesis 2:24, it mentions that the man and woman were naked in Genesis 2:25. They were one flesh and as a result they knew everything there was to know about each other. Nothing was hidden. Nothing was concealed. Nothing was withheld. Everything was wide open.
Now look at what happened after the Fall, when the woman gave in to a covetous temptation and the man stood by her side and did not intervene:
Genesis 3:7-8 NIV
[7] Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. [8] Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.3.7-8.NIV)
They perceived their nakedness for the first time. They felt exposed. They felt ashamed. And for the first time ever the felt the need to cover themselves up and hide who they were from each other.
Now, let’s stop and reflect for a moment.
What was the logic in that? They had already seen each other naked. They already knew who they were. Covering themselves up was not going to change that fact.
We can therefore surmise that their covering up had nothing to do with how they thought their spouse felt about them, and everything to do with how they felt about themselves.
They were ashamed of who they were and what they had done.
They also tried to hide from God.
Now, that is a futile exercise:
Proverbs 15:3 NIV
[3] The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/pro.15.3.NIV)
Again, this was driven by shame.
Now, the modern way of dealing with this is to somehow persuade us that there is no need to feel shame; that we have nothing of which to be ashamed.
God disagrees.
That’s why the Gospel exists.
Look at the results of the Fall.
Traditionally, the success of most marriages are judged on two criteria: how much you earn and how many children you produce. Look what was cursed after the Fall: the man was the main producer of wealth for the family, so his work is cursed (Genesis 3:17-19); the woman produces children so her childbirth is cursed (Genesis 3:16).
But the last sentence of the curse on the woman is critical for our understanding of Paul’s teaching on marriage:
Genesis 3:16 NIV
[16] Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.3.16.NIV)
The Hebrew in this verse sums up all the problems between the genders that we experience nowadays. The desire the woman would feel towards her husband is not just sexual desire or even lust, it’s a desire to consume, to overthrow, to usurp. It’s a covetous desire to take what is not hers to take.
Let’s think for a moment about the numerous movements who have quite rightly fought for women’s rights, but have sometimes sought to take this too far and remove men from the equation all together.
In return, he would exercise harsh dominion over her. Now let’s think about misogyny, the patriarchy, the manosphere. Let’s think about the male protagonist movements that have taken things way too far.
Let’s consider for a moment what would happen if either comes of these extreme groups had their way at the same time. Surely humanity would be wiped out in a generation!
What we see from this analysis is that the world's model for marriage has failed hopelessly and definitively. Beyond the romance and the beauty of wedding ceremonies in any culture, we have created and normalised a ‘Battle of the Sexes’ that takes place in millions of living rooms across the globe.
It doesn’t work. It has objectively failed.
So what can we do about it?
That’s where the Biblical model – God’s model – for marriage comes in.
As chivalry, and the flow of our passage in Ephesians 5, dictates, let’s look firstly at The Wife’s Role.
The Wife’s Role
Ephesians 5:21-24 NIV
[21] Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. [22] Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. [24] Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.5.21-24.NIV)
I’m a dad, so I like and appreciate dad humour. There is the old joke about the nervous bride, being given reassurance by her entourage to stop her from forgetting how things happen in a wedding ceremony. They remind her that when she comes into the church she will first walk down an aisle, then at the end of it she should stop at the altar, then everyone in the church will sing a hymn.
The joke is that the bride walked into the church muttering to herself ‘Aisle... Altar... Hymn... Aisle... Altar... Hymn’.
Like any joke, it works because, beyond the clumsy play on words, there is a reality behind it. Brides – and often grooms – get marriage believing that their intended is not perfect, but who is? They believe that their other half has potential, and with their guru-like mentoring, they could then them into someone really great.
Or at least more acceptable.
Let me shoot that notion down right away. There are no guarantees in marriage, or in life, other than God and His promises. If you love someone because of who they might be someday, do you know what you are communicating?
That you don’t love them now.
Worse, you see them as a project, not as a person.
That is no basis for a marriage.
Besides, is it worth committing yourself exclusively to something in the hope that it might happen, when it also might not?
Look again at Genesis 3:
Genesis 3:16 NIV
[16] Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.3.16.NIV)
The desire to consume, to manipulate, to change your husband is a fallen desire. It results from sin. It has nothing to do with loving others as yourself: you would hate it if someone didn’t love you as you are but loved only your potential to be someone else, or your bank balance, or your passport, or your position in society.
So why would you do that to your husband?
And that is why Paul told wives to submit to their husbands: not in a cowed, beaten-down, subservient way, but to recognise that the positions of wife and husband are fundamentally different, so the wife should not covet the husband’s God-given role and try to remove him from it.
Trust me, as a husband and a father, there are unique stresses to which a wife is not exposed, and should not be exposed. There are extra pressures.
For example, I have passed through several occasions where my job was under threat. That is a horrible position for anyone to be in. But as a man and a husband, the pressure is on you, more than anyone, to provide for the family. Your sense of dignity and self-respect hinge completely on being able to do it. It’s part of your identity. When you can no longer provide, the loss of dignity and self-respect, and the feeling of failure is enormous.
Would you honestly want to bear that pressure?
When there is competition within the family and a desire to usurp each other and prove to yourself that you can do their job better, then the risk of relationship failure is multiplied.
This is why Paul wrote this to the Colossians:
Colossians 3:18 NIV
[18] Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/col.3.18.NIV)
Submit to your husbands not because he deserves it, or because he has forced the issue, but because it is the right thing to do before God.
So that’s the wife’s role. However, before find ourselves in some form of comparison over who has the easiest role, let’s examine The Husband's Role.
The Husband’s Role
Ephesians 5:25-33 NIV
[25] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her [26] to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, [27] and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. [28] In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [29] After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— [30] for we are members of his body. [31] “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” [32] This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. [33] However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.5.25-33.NIV)
I well remember the day I became a husband. After an overnight stay in a nearby hotel and a brief break on a nearby island, we were thrown into a bureaucratic whirlwind of paperwork that was needed to obtain her UK spouse visa, followed by a nervous wait to see if she would receive it, followed by helping her settle into a new country, followed by pregnancy.
Around a year after we got married, I remember the shock settling in that I was a husband, about to be a new dad and was about to sign the paperwork on my first mortgage.
It was tine to grow up. And fast.
Let me tell you something every newly married couple has to know. Just because the signatures have dried on your marriage paperwork and you have rings on your fingers does not mean you have already adjusted to married life. It takes time. A lot of time. Even if you have been together for a while.
And no, I don’t think living together first is the cheat code. That can break a marriage before it makes it. Part of growing together is finding out each other’s little foibles and idiosyncrasies and adjusting to them.
Why do I mention this?
Because of the command given to the husband.
And what is that command?
To love.
Now, that should be a given, right? You should love the person you are marrying, right?
But this is no ordinary love. This is agape love. This is unconditional love. This is love that keeps going when everything else fails. This is love that holds a marriage together when everything else has gone.
This is 1 Corinthians 13 love.
This is Jesus’ love, as Paul explained:
Ephesians 5:25 NIV
[25] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.5.25.NIV)
So why does Paul specifically tell the husband to love his wife?
Because love will not domineer. Love is not harsh:
Colossians 3:19 NIV
[19] Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/col.3.19.NIV)
Love is the complete polar opposite of the manosphere and the misogynist.
Love does not objectify. Love does not cast a woman aside because she has reached a certain age, or is turning grey, or no longer looks like the woman she was when she got married.
Love sticks with the object of its affections even when they are not able to do the things they once were.
Most women don’t need someone to tell them to love like this.
But men do.
Because from a young age, this world programs us into believing that our value is intrinsically linked to the woman we have by our side. And so if she begins to age, cold as it may seem, some men believe it is necessary to cat her aside and find another one.
It is a pathetic folly. There is no truth in it.
That’s why Paul wrote to Ephesian men to tell them that their outworking of the command to love their neighbour as themselves was to stop seeing their wives as objects they had acquired or as arm candy or as something to make them look good, but to see them as a beautiful creation, made in the image of God Himself, and worthy of their care and attention.
Husbands, are you listening?
So we have seen the context of these commands and the roles of both wife and husband.
Paul goes further and talks of an entirely different dimension to this – one that is entirely relevant to our studies: What This Reflects.
What This Reflects
Ephesians 5:22-33 NIV
[22] Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. [24] Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. [25] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her [26] to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, [27] and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. [28] In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [29] After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— [30] for we are members of his body. [31] “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” [32] This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. [33] However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.5.22-33.NIV)
If I was to ask you what is the purpose of a Christian marriage, what would you say?
This has often tripped up a great many Christians.
Most proponents of a traditional view of marriage would point to this verse:
Genesis 1:28 NIV
[28] God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.1.28.NIV)
They say that it’s the responsibility of a Christian marriage to produce as many children as possible so they can fill the earth and subdue it.
That is irresponsible. The earth is already filled. It had been more than subdued – it is being actively exploited.
Others might point to these verses:
Malachi 2:13-16 NIV
[13] Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. [14] You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. [15] Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. [16] “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mal.2.13-16.NIV)
However, that is against a misunderstanding: these verses are an indictment against those who destroy marriages and families through divorce. The point is that God is seeking Godly children from His people’s marriages, but divorce is an obstacle to that.
So what, then, is God’s purpose for Christian marriages, if it isn’t to produce lots of children or for them to be Godly (although the latter is definitely desirable and should not be compromised).
God’s purpose for Christian marriages is contained within our verses in Ephesians, and it may surprise you.
It’s to demonstrate to the world the close relationship between Jesus Christ and His church.
Confused?
Maybe these verses will help:
2 Corinthians 11:1-2 NIV
[1] I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! [2] I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.11.1-2.NIV)
Revelation 19:6-8 NIV
[6] Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. [7] Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. [8] Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.19.6-8.NIV)
Revelation 21:2 NIV
[2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.21.2.NIV)
The church is the bride of Christ.
Now, how do people know what the relationship is like between a bride and groom, between a husband and wife?
The know it from the examples they see in front of them.
So what would they say about the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church if they look at Christian marriages?
‘Well, at best there’s a one in five chance that those two will split up’.
Think about that for a moment.
Paul stated in these verses that Christian marriages should demonstrate Jesus Christ’s relationship with His church in two ways:
From the wife's side, by her complete abandonment of the adversarial approach of the ‘Battle of the Sexes’, and her loving submittal to both her position within the marriage and that of her husband.
From the husband’s side, of his complete abandonment of cruel and heartless objectification and strong-armed domination, and his loving care for his wife and spiritual leadership in the home.
This is what best demonstrates to a watching world the close connection between Christ and the church. When they realise that the church is the Bride of Christ, they have something to which to compare this picture and they understand it.
To fully comprehend and apply this truth to our lives, I’d like you to imagine that you and your spouse have been called into a marriage guidance session. There is a pin board in front of both of you and a stack pieces of sticky paper in your hand. You are given the assignment writing down adjectives that you think your spouse would use to describe you and your behaviour and attitude in the marriage and to stick them to the board.
Imagine you had to review the contents of that board. What would they say about you?
How many of them would accurately communicate the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church to a watching world?
This is a very high calling. It’s incredibly demanding. No matter how long you have been married, or how many times, this purpose for your marriage ought to bring you trembling to your knees in confession of sin and repentance.
Because only then can we set our marriages back on the right path.
Conclusion
Matthew 19:3-12 NIV
[3] Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” [4] “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ [5] and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? [6] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” [7] “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” [8] Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. [9] I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” [10] The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” [11] Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. [12] For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.19.3-12.NIV)
Many years ago, my family and I travelled down to Cornwall for my uncle's wedding. It was a really happy occasion.
But during the ceremony, the preacher did something I thought was a little out of place.
He preached about divorce.
Now, I have to be open here. Some of my friends and fellow church members have either been through or are going through divorce. It is a shattering experience.
And so it should be. The Bible teaches that a man and a woman, once married, become one flesh. If divorce comes into the picture, you are tearing that one flesh apart. There will be trauma and pain involved. That is only natural. Especially when you consider that the marriage relationship should be the most intimate one you have.
If it isn’t, then you are making a mockery of marriage.
But I want to concentrate on verse 11:
Matthew 19:11 NIV
[11] Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.19.11.NIV)
Men and women were not made to be alone. They were designed to be together. Marriage is the closest, most intimate relationship. Men and women become one flesh. They are physically and emotionally naked before each other. They each have clearly defined roles to play within that relationship, as we saw. They should not covet each other's roles. There are sacrifices involved. They sacrifice their independence and become interdependent. Personal autonomy is sacrificed so that they can act as a unit.
At its very best, marriage is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ’s relationship with His church.
There is, quite simply, nothing else like it.
But it must be undertaken responsibly and not at all frivolously or lightly.
It is not a legal means to inherit property or citizenship from a rich partner.
It is not a contract that guarantees childcare and gets your parents off your back because you either became pregnant from or impregnated your partner.
It is not something you get into because you're afraid you can’t control yourself. Paul did teach this:
1 Corinthians 7:8-9 NIV
[8] Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. [9] But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.7.8-9.NIV)
But this is a concession, not a rule.
Because, my goodness, if every hormonal teenager married everyone they felt passionate about, they'd only be able to do that in Utah.
Marriage is way more than a legal contract. It is way more than sex. It is the physical, emotional and spiritual union of a man and a woman for life. Your life completely changes as a result:
1 Corinthians 7:32-34 NIV
[32] I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. [33] But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— [34] and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.7.32-34.NIV)
Not everyone can handle this. It’s not for everyone. It should be considered very seriously and carefully before getting into it.
Marriage is a very serious commitment. Yes, it has the possibility to go incredibly badly wrong.
But if it’s done correctly, the curse of sin on the relationship between the genders is broken and God is glorified.
And that is a glorious thing.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I’m sorry if I have trivialise marriage and turned it into something it is not. Help me to see it for the beautiful, but also intimidating and life-changing thing that it is. Show me how my attitude towards it needs to change. Amen.
Questions for Contemplation
What is marriage to you? How does this differ from what you have learned in this study?
What should your take be in marriage? Can you do it? How can you improve your fulfilment of this role?
Is marriage for you? If so, how can you improve your attitude towards it?
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