What is Marriage?

The wedding day is one of the most anticipated days of our lives. Marriage is a huge step in our lives where we make moral decisions within the bond but what has happened to the wise decisions before and within the marital bond and why is it not a big deal in today’s culture? The problems of unfaithfulness, divorce, pre-marital sexual relations, homosexuality and the laws of the land have taken marriage for such a great turn for the worse.

The first biblical reference and definition of marriage is found in Genesis 2:24-25: “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. Both the man and his wife were naked, they felt no shame.” Adam and Eve were recorded as the first couple and the first of mankind in the Bible. In my opinion, Marriage is such a beautiful thing and especially is nothing to be ashamed of. The bond of a man and a woman is designed to cater themselves in marital pleasures, giving life to children and possibly the pleasure of grandchildren. In Genesis 2:18, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.” The lawful relationship between man and woman has dated back to around 3,000 to 6,000 years ago when God created the Heavens and the earth. God has also inspired many passages in the Bible giving insight on marriage and what should and should not happen within the bond.

What is life without a little complication? God never said our lives, as Christians would be a piece of cake. We always have to dig our way through a thick jungle every once in a while to get to the big prize. This is the same way in the life of a married couple. Conflicts are essential for growing and there has to be growing room. In his book, Design for Christian Marriage, Dwight Small wrote, “Emotional maturity is needed as is character development and God uses conflict and burdens in marriage as a means of growth in both of these ways.” If you give up on the bond of love due to the obstacles of marriage, it is like giving up on God’s plan for your life. Douglas Jacobsen wrote in his book, Gracious Christianity, “Some days we feel closer to God and more secure in God’s hands, and some days less so.” Those couples having problems should give their problems to God. If you are angry for too long and won’t forgive or allow yourself to give the relationship another try, the marriage ends in divorce which is a biblically immoral effect of the issue.

Statistics shows that fifty-percent of Americans have divorced a spouse at least once in their life. Divorce is caused by unfaithfulness, abuse, or one spouse fell out of love with the other. Usually, if a couple really loved each other, the couple would try to make things work out for the good for their family’s sake. Children with divorced parents have been proven to be the more troubled and misbehaved in public, at school, or in the household of each parent.

The apostle Paul was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote many letters in his journey for Christ, including the first and second book of Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul started writing about the moral ethics of marriage and the expected faithfulness to the spouse of one another. In 1 Corinthians 7:3, Paul wrote, “A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband."

Fulfilling marital responsibility is the ultimate way of showing faithfulness. This includes being active in sexual relations with your spouse. As wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:5, “Do not sexually deprive one another – except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” Sexual depravity can cause loss of affection, which leads to arrogance and frustration toward one another that could lead to one another cheating on their spouse immorally. Sexual relations between married couples have decreased significantly, leading to adultery and divorce.

Adultery has become a huge issue in America. Adultery is having sex with someone other than your husband. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, “I command the married – not I, but the Lord – a wife is not to leave her husband. But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband – and a husband is not to leave his wife.”

Sexual immorality is a big sin everyone falls into at some point in our lives, especially in this day and age. Another big problem is pre-marital sex. Sex is a temptation to those who are unmarried, only because of its daring pleasure and romance everyone seeks out but when sex happens without a ring, you are in for a rude awakening.

Dwight Small stated in his book, Design for Christian Marriage, that “Sex must be a part of loving another person for what that person is in himself, for what he is to God, and for what God’s grace may make of that one.” Children are being born outside of wedlock and frustration begins to flare because daddy’s job isn’t making enough money and mommy isn’t mature enough to quit partying every night. Marriage prepares a couple for the daring tasks as parents. Being a parent is not only taking care of a child, but also becoming a Christ-like example for your child to grow to have a moral, meaningful lifestyle. Lacking such character as a parent will result in poor behavior for a child and crude behavior as a teenager. In Art Carey’s book, In Defense of Marriage, He wrote, “For marriage, it seems to me, encourages the fundamental decencies. It provides an institutional setting that fosters unselfishness and giving, politeness and kindness, respect and care for others.”

Finally, Homosexuality and same-sex marriage is the biggest controversial topic in the United States of America right now. The attraction of the same-sex has been around for centuries. Homosexuality has not only distorted biblical marriage, it has distorted how people view God. Mark 10:6 states “But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.”

In the past few years, the United States Government has gone to extremes to make sure that same-sex marriage is a part of everyday life, as if the Bible has nothing to do with the government and laws. News broadcasters around the nation make the situation look like a normal, moral ethic.

In The Future of Marriage, David Blankenhorn, “took fifteen summary conclusions about marriage that emerge from the public arguments in favor of same-sex marriage.” Quite interestingly, some of the conclusions contradict what God inspired to be lawful and moral. “Marriage needs to be more separated from religion,” Blankenhorn listed as arguments emerged. “Children do not necessarily need a mother and a father.” Sin separates us from God. If we swim into deep trenches of sin, we tend to sink. Sometimes, we want to sink but God snatches us back up out of the hole we are in.

From unfaithfulness to the struggle of homosexual sin, the sin of the world has turned marriage from a moral decision to an immoral, sinful, careless topic. No one wants to wait for God’s perfect timing or the perfect girl or guy. Sex can’t wait anymore, children are being born into the family of careless young adults and marriage is between two people of the same-sex. To turn back to the moral wedlock that was once more respected would be a huge step toward Godliness for not just America but for the whole world. Why has the definition turned into an unbiblical, ungodly norm? God only knows why. The root of all sin is the work of our enemy who is out to destroy our souls by making everything that goes against God’s law seems right.

#Holiness #Biblical #Love #Unity #marriage