The 5th in a series -
Have you ever wondered what is the impact on marriage when the reality of God is denied? Think about it! If we used to turn to God for our source of meaning and purpose, love and redemption; those things that humans need in order to be emotionally and spiritually healthy, what do we do when the only true source of those things is ignored? Naturally we turn to another human to supply our deepest needs.
Have you ever wondered what is the impact on marriage when the reality of God is denied? Think about it! If we used to turn to God for our source of meaning and purpose, love and redemption; those things that humans need in order to be emotionally and spiritually healthy, what do we do when the only true source of those things is ignored? Naturally we turn to another human to supply our deepest needs.
Have
you ever wondered what happens to marriages when that kind of
pressure is placed on one or both marriage partners? Yep. They
disintegrate under the impossible load. Those who contend that
traditional (Biblical) marriage is suffocating, in turn reject the
only possible way to allow freedom in marriage (each person living
for God) and place a truly oppressive expectation on the marriage
partners. And then, after the marriage ends, they say, “Life long, monogamous, committed
marriage is impossible to create.”
The
fact is, society needs people who are able to sustain long-term,
monogamous committed marriage. Without our ability to commit to the
good of at least one other human being, we will see humanity fragment
into billions of pieces. Both the children that inevitably come from
sexual unions and the adults around the world desperately need this
ability on the part of humans.
Sadly
there is only one way to achieve these kind of relationships and
those who have rejected God and His guidelines are simply not able to
get the job done. I'm not talking about the longevity of marriage.
The celebration of the 50th anniversary make strike a cord
within, but longevity is no guarantee of quality. As was heard by a
son from his dad after burying a wife of 53 years, “I never loved
that woman.” For various reasons, lots of people just stick it out.
That's not the kind of marriage I'm advocating.
Ironically,
people long to be married; especially those who lack the
skills to maintain a quality relationship. And ironically it is those
who downplay the effects of sin and who ignore the divine origin of
marriage who think they'll do the best at having a good marriage. And
when the inevitable crash comes, it is not the people within the
marriage who are blamed but the institution of marriage itself.
I
maintain that without knowing the secret of marriage, that Paul
describes for us in the New Testament, no marriage can reach the
level of personal satisfaction and glorification of Jesus that it was
intended to attain.
More
on this next Friday
