It doesn’t matter how long a couple has been married, there should always be a desire in seeking to improve our relationship. It is easy to take each other for granted or for marriage to simply become “routine.” Christian men must remember the value of the woman whose price is far above rubies (Pro. 31:10), the woman who guides the house (1 Tim. 5:14), and the woman whom we love as our own bodies (Eph. 5:28). In the same way, Christian women must reverence and love their husbands (Eph. 5:33; Titus 2:4) and be pure and willfully submissive to the leadership of the husband (Titus 2:5). God’s plan for marriage will be successful when we follow it faithfully.
Don’t turn each other away from the Lord. God has always wanted purity in our relationships with Him and with each other. That is why He did not want His people plagued by the heathen nations through intermarriage (Deu. 7:3,4). Yet, Solomon learned this the hard way. He loved many "strange women" who turned away his heart from the Lord (1 Kings 11:1-11). Like Priscilla and Aquila we can be helpers together in Christ (Rom. 16:3).
Love each other second. First place in our lives should be the Lord Himself (Mat. 22:37). That means we love our spouses less than the Lord (Luke 14:26). We can then continually encourage each other to seek the Kingdom of God first (Mat. 6:33).
Understand the sacred relationship of marriage. Marriage originated with God when He joined Adam and Eve making them "one flesh" that was never meant to be broken (Gen. 2:24; Mat. 19:6). Husbands and wives must remember that "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13:4). So, the "lock" is always kept in "wedlock" (1 Cor. 7:2).
Conduct yourselves in a respectful way. Peter wrote, "Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct" (1 Pet. 3:1,2, ESV). A Christian wife will not be "showy" in her appearance or attitude, but she will always adorn a meek and quiet spirit like faithful Sara (1 Pet. 3:4-6). "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised" (Pro. 31:30). Likewise, a Christian husband will show himself to be a pattern in good works (Titus 2:7) and not bitter against his wife (Col. 3:19). He is self-controlled and willing to dwell with his wife in a loving and understanding way (Titus 2:6; 1 Pet. 3:7).
Look forward to an eternity in Heaven. Although in the spiritual realm we will neither marry nor be given in marriage (Mat. 22:30), we will still know the one whom we called "our beloved" (Son. 1:16; 1 The. 2:19) on earth. Every husband and wife should be thankful that we can walk in the light together here (1 John 1:7) and live in the light for all eternity (Rev. 21:23).
~Derrick Coble
Don’t turn each other away from the Lord. God has always wanted purity in our relationships with Him and with each other. That is why He did not want His people plagued by the heathen nations through intermarriage (Deu. 7:3,4). Yet, Solomon learned this the hard way. He loved many "strange women" who turned away his heart from the Lord (1 Kings 11:1-11). Like Priscilla and Aquila we can be helpers together in Christ (Rom. 16:3).
Love each other second. First place in our lives should be the Lord Himself (Mat. 22:37). That means we love our spouses less than the Lord (Luke 14:26). We can then continually encourage each other to seek the Kingdom of God first (Mat. 6:33).
Understand the sacred relationship of marriage. Marriage originated with God when He joined Adam and Eve making them "one flesh" that was never meant to be broken (Gen. 2:24; Mat. 19:6). Husbands and wives must remember that "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13:4). So, the "lock" is always kept in "wedlock" (1 Cor. 7:2).
Conduct yourselves in a respectful way. Peter wrote, "Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct" (1 Pet. 3:1,2, ESV). A Christian wife will not be "showy" in her appearance or attitude, but she will always adorn a meek and quiet spirit like faithful Sara (1 Pet. 3:4-6). "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised" (Pro. 31:30). Likewise, a Christian husband will show himself to be a pattern in good works (Titus 2:7) and not bitter against his wife (Col. 3:19). He is self-controlled and willing to dwell with his wife in a loving and understanding way (Titus 2:6; 1 Pet. 3:7).
Look forward to an eternity in Heaven. Although in the spiritual realm we will neither marry nor be given in marriage (Mat. 22:30), we will still know the one whom we called "our beloved" (Son. 1:16; 1 The. 2:19) on earth. Every husband and wife should be thankful that we can walk in the light together here (1 John 1:7) and live in the light for all eternity (Rev. 21:23).
~Derrick Coble