Husband, Love Your Wife

 

Marriage 10

 

          Husband, love your wife.

          "Well, duh. Whaddya think I got married for?"

          Agreed. Hopefully, you chose to get married for this good reason. But there are some layers here that may not perhaps be seen at first glance. Let us look a little more closely, shall we?

          The first reference we find in Scripture to a husband loving his wife is in relation to Isaac and Rebekah. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. (Genesis 24.67) By all accounts, Isaac and Rebekah lived out this same principle over the intervening decades and are a worthy example for us. In complete contrast, Solomon, a failure as a husband if ever there was one, tells us as an older man, Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity. (Ecclesiastes 9.9)

Regardless of the human source of the advice, it is excellent advice. Husband, love your wife.

          This love is not simply an emotional high produced by pheromones. As we can see from the two passages above, it is supposed to last for a lifetime. By implication then, it must be able to weather a lifetimes worth of storms.

One potential problem area here is bitterness. Occasionally, a man will begin to look at what he had to give up to get married – his toys, his vaunted freedom, his nights out with the boys, perhaps a career opportunity or two – and the black mold of bitterness will begin to grow in the secret, dark places of his heart.

Another route to the same sin may be an obsession with things she said or did years ago that hurt you. Nothing is so large and yet so fragile as a man's ego. Perhaps she laughed at you or compared you unfavorably in some way to another man. In a trying season, she was unfaithful, and despite what you told her, you have not forgiven her from the heart.

Heed Paul’s counsel here: Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. (Colossians 3.19)

The extent of a husband’s love is revealed in the earthly example of how men love their own selves. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it. (Ephesians 5.28-29) We baby ourselves. The budget may be stretched to the breaking point, but if there is something we want, we find a way to afford it. We pamper ourselves; we eat our favorite foods in our favorite chair while watching our favorite team and expect everyone else in the family to orbit around our choices.

What would our marriages be like if we shifted that from ourselves to our wives? For the Word is clear here; this ought to be done.

The question naturally follows: how? How can a man love his wife so well?

The answer, I think, as in so many things spiritual, is to look to Christ. How does Christ love the church? For there is a direct relation between my marriage and Christ’s example. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it. (Ephesians 5.25) Jesus loved/s the church by giving, a character trait demonstrated equally well by His Father. (John 3.16)

How was Christ's love demonstrated to the church? He gave up His eternal position and spotless reputation to come to Earth. He gave His time in patiently teaching and building the earthly foundation of the church, the Apostles. On the cross, He took all the blame upon Himself, endured the pain, and shed His blood to purchase the church. Down to the present day, He lavishes gifts on the church, pastors and teachers. He allows the church to represent Him on Earth while He is away. He keeps the espousal intact regardless of how unattractive we become at times. He will someday marry us forever.

Put another way round, what we see in Christ is constant sacrifice, a never-ending giving. Love is sacrifice, and men are capable of great sacrifice when driven by love. The flags that flutter from the graves of fallen heroes each Memorial Day stand in silent witness to the fact.

“Well, it’s all good then. I have given up lots of stuff for her.”

Good. But your perspective is not the answer to the question; her perspective is.

There are several candidates for the title of best chapter in the Bible about love, but one of them is undoubtedly I John 4. There, amongst other gems, we find this truth about love: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (I John 4.18) The only One Who loves perfectly is God. How perfect is He at doing so? I have no doubt that He loves me; I have zero fear in that regard.

As I write this, it is Sunday afternoon. The weather is balmy for an Iowa Spring. I am sitting on my screened-in porch, enjoying the sunshine and the singing of the birds. But I do not feel like God loves me due to the sunshine and the birds. I am convinced God loves me because of a lifetime of lovingkindness, of grace and mercy poured out during the bleakest of times, of tender provisions of strength and faith in the harsh winters of life. Consequently, I am utterly convinced He loves me. That is how good God is at loving.

This, my brother, is what you and I are supposed to provide for our wives, this absence of any fear in relation to our affections. It is often said that wives crave security. I may speak to that in a later post. But right here, we find the scriptural command to meet the depths of such a soul's need. Putting these passages together, we are called to love our wives so well they have no fear at all that we love someone or something more or that we may do so at some point.

Husband, love your wife. Like you love yourself. Sacrifice happily for her, as our Saviour did for us. And love her so well her insecurities vanish as the dew dries in the warmth of June morning.

Then do it again tomorrow.  

Husband, Bring Your Wife Rest

 

Marriage 9

 

          Naomi makes an interesting statement about marriage in Ruth 1. I am not talking about Ruth's statement to her, which is often used in marriage ceremonies. I am talking about a previous part of Naomi's conversation with her two widowed daughters-in-law, during which she implored them to stay in Moab. And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. (Ruth 1.8-9) Ruth would, in the house of Boaz. Here, we see an underrated aspect of a husband's duties in marriage: he is to give his wife rest.

          “Fat chance, Pastor Brennan. I’ve got approximately twelve children, give or take, seventy-five loads of laundry a week, twenty-one meals a week times fourteen, and the errands and the budget to worry about. And then he expects me to homeschool on top of all that. Rest? What are you smoking?”

          I get your point, and perhaps should write something to that. But this is not that blog post or that point. I am not talking primarily about physical rest because I do not think Naomi was talking mainly about physical rest. Women who kept the home in that era did so without running water and electricity; there was precious little physical rest in that environment.

          What am I talking about then?

          Peter tells us under the inspiration of the Spirit that the wife is the weaker vessel. (I Peter 3.7) This is not her fault, as if she somehow failed to maintain her strength. God has designed her with different tolerances for different purposes than He designed the husband. In this context, it means the typical wife is not prepared to carry the load that her husband is ready to take. Not physically, primarily here, but emotionally, in the sense of stress and pressure.

Think of a pie chart for a moment. God made men with an inherent ability to compartmentalize. They can move from task to task, and as they lay down the tools for one task and pick up the tools for the next, they can usually do the same with the stresses involved. On the other hand, think of a basket in which everything has been piled together, not necessarily haphazardly, but still all in one container. This is generally how women carry things, not physically but mentally and emotionally. Whatever they have, they are carrying all of it all the time.

It is precisely here that God designed the husband to enter; her man should help her carry that basket or, better yet, prevent things from getting piled into it in the first place.

What brings stress and pressure to the wife? Every woman is an individual, and her answers to this question will reflect that, but perhaps some of these… A lack of money. Disrespectful and disobedient sons. An exceedingly busy period in her schedule. Health situations. Her own or yours. Or both. Concern for the future. And each of these could be and often is further spun out into its own plots and subplots.

In my opinion, this is why Moses gave specific instructions in Numbers 30 that a husband or father can release his wife or daughter from a vow. He knows her capacity and what she can carry without being overwhelmed. In his judgment, her vow will necessarily produce an overloaded basket. Ergo, he has the authority to cancel her promise. The purpose here is not to abrogate her personhood in the least; rather, the intent is to give her rest.

Feminism is an awful thing in the lies it tells, and the relationship structures it produces. It is precisely here we find one of them. Feminism says that not only can a woman do all that a man can do, furthermore a woman should do all that a man does. Balderdash. In front of my window is a bright red Iowa cardinal. God designed and created it for different purposes than He designed and created me. If it tried to do my work or I tried to do its work, the result would be frustration, disappointment, grief, and failure. Which is precisely what feminism delivers.

          My dear sister, it is not that you are a lesser form of humanity, less critical, less valued, less loved, or less necessary. Balderdash to that, too, I say. It is that God designed you and your husband differently. My dear brother, it is not that you are a higher form of humanity, more important, more valued, more loved, or more necessary. No, it is that God designed you and your wife differently.

Husband, is your marriage patterned after God's design? Are you taking the stress and pressure off of your wife, placing it upon yourself, and so bringing her rest? This is the model of a marriage based on ministry. Or are you piling item after item into her basket and then standing around perplexed and frustrated when she seems to break down in carrying it all?

Seek to discover what is weighing on her mind and heart. Then lift it. This is your task.   

Husband, View Your Marriage As a Ministry

Marriage 8

 

          This week, we turn from examining the foundational beliefs necessary for marriage to the more practical side of things. Just what are husbands and wives supposed to do in marriage? We will spend a few weeks looking at each side of this, but we begin with this necessity for husbands: He views his marriage as a ministry.

Paul phrased it this way in I Corinthians 7.32-33: But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. "Pleased" here carries in it the idea of accommodating oneself to another, of adjusting or fitting yourself to another in such a way that you can help them carry what they carry. Nor is this a negative use; Paul is here commending this about the married man, asserting it to be good and right. A husband correctly understands that he no longer has the freedom he had when he was single, which allowed him to serve the Lord with nary a thought of who else was involved. No, now he must adjust everything in his life with one ruling principle in mind: how he may please his wife and how he can help her carry what she carries in this life.

I begin here because it is a life-changing truth. I start here also because it goes against the grain of so much taught and presented about marriage. The independent Baptist movement has a wide macho streak, a kind of get-back-in-the-kitchen-and-make-me-a-sammich kind of thing. Of course, this is merely the carnal human weakness of selfishness masquerading as manliness, but now I am meddling. I also begin here primarily because it is biblical, as revealed in Paul's words above.

This next statement may sound harsh, but I prefer to consider it realistic. The average marriage is often one of manipulation, not ministry. A study in "The Journal of Marriage and the Family" shows us this in a failure sort of way. Reasons men cited for divorce included communication problems (59%), unhappiness (46%), incompatibility (44%), sexual problems (30%), financial problems (28%), and emotional abuse (24%). The causes women referenced as contributing to divorce were similar, though more sad in my view, including communication problems (69%), unhappiness (59%), incompatibility (56%), emotional abuse (55%), financial problems (32%), sexual problems (32%), husband's drinking (30%), husband's infidelity (25%), and physical abuse (21%).

Much of the above paragraph could be summed up with this phrase commonly uttered in counseling situations: "My needs just aren't being met." What needs? Communication, empathy, sympathy, support, respect, money, sex, happiness, peace, security, stability, etc. 

Where is ministry in that?

The response to this type of teaching on marriage usually sounds something like, "Well, you must just want me to be a doormat then!" I would argue that such an expression reveals that you still focus on yourself. It is not until you can forget yourself and focus on the needs of those around you that you can truly be Christ-like. He said, The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20.28) Paul agreed, adding a clarifying statement in Philippians 2.4-5: Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.  

The typical book on marriage in the bookstore's self-help section is chock full of techniques for you to use on your wife to get your needs met. My brother, that is manipulation, plain and clear. A self-centered approach to marriage cannot be biblical.

          Marriage is rooted in and grows from love. The foundation of love is giving. It follows that giving, selfless expressions of love ought to fill marriage. Yet somehow, when vows are exchanged, a mysterious metamorphosis occurs. What had been a how-can-I-show-you-my-love attitude becomes a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitude. Such a fact makes me wonder if the marriage was rooted in love at all.

          “Of course it was. I loved her then and love her now. It’s not my fault she isn’t holding up her end of the deal.”

          You know, enjoying how being in love makes me feel good is not the same as loving another selflessly. I am convinced such feelings drove men like Sinatra to marry four times and commit serial adultery during most of them. It was not love; it was how being in love made him feel. Ergo, since the "love" was selfish, so was the marriage and the selfish manipulation that drove most of those wives away.

          “But a man has needs, Pastor Brennan!”

          May I kindly ask you to meditate on a couple of passages?

          But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4.19)

          The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23.1)

          My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. (Psalm 62.5)

          If God truly meets our needs, and the marriage is built upon a selfless, giving love, then the result will not be a selfish husband who operates on manipulation; it will be a loving, Christ-like husband whose marriage functions as a ministry to his wife, coming alongside, carrying what she carries.

          Now then, I would continue, but my wife is hollering for me at the moment, and I must go help her… <grin>

          Catch you next week.      

Marriage Is Honorable

 

 

Marriage 7

 

          Unknown perhaps to us, we have all too often adopted an unhealthy, unscriptural view of marriage. Like cucumbers pickled in brine, too many of God's people have borrowed their concept of marriage from the world's milieu. Thus, I have begun this series on my marriage by attempting to thrust us back into the Word of God. God began this divine institution; how does He view it?

          I have a simple thought today, one for which I am indebted to Rosario Butterfield. In one of her books, she went to great lengths to establish this very thought, so much so that I, too, have decided to emphasize it in my own ministry. It is this: marriage is honorable.

          God Himself makes this statement via the inspired human writer of Hebrews 13.4. Marriage is honourable in all. Honorable is defined by the dictionary as something worthy of honor and high respect. In the original language, it carries the connotation of a precious stone, highly prized for its value and beauty.

          You will think otherwise if you follow the news of our day. There, marriage is routinely mangled by positive references to “open” marriages, divorce, live-in relationships, homosexual “marriage”, throuples, sister wives, and a veritable plethora of ungodly variations and illustrations on the subject. It should not surprise us, then, to find traditional marriage as a concept increasingly abandoned. Indeed, our own Center for Disease Control has solemnly informed us that fewer people than ever are getting married, percentage-wise, and they have been tracking it for 124 years.  

          What a sad paragraph that last one was. The flaws it reveals about our society are deep and wide. Yet the stubborn truth remains – marriage is honorable.

          Marriage is not merely tradition; it is a divine institution. God ordained marriage. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (Genesis 1.27-28) Marriage as an institution was blessed by our Saviour when He performed His first miracle at the wedding in Cana.

          It then follows that regardless of what our society currently thinks, marriage is not under human authority; it is under divine authority. The state has to have some role in marriage, but the state did not invent marriage and does not have the right to re-invent, redefine, or abandon it. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Mark 10.9) Marriage is a matter of obedience to God. We will give an account for our conduct in marriage as husbands and wives – not to the state, not even to our husbands/wives, but to the Lord.

          Genesis is the book of beginnings. The creation of humanity revealed there was not complete until God sealed the institution of marriage.

Genesis 2.18–24

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

          We see several important things in the above passage.

          First, it is not good for man to be alone. An alone man is an incomplete man. Married men and women are not independent individuals who happen to share the same dwelling; we are mutually dependent on each other. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. (I Corinthians 11.11-12)  

          Second, God chose for Adam to experience this fundamental incompleteness so that he would view his wife not just as nice but as necessary. If you are reading this blog as a single individual in preparation for marriage your time is well spent, not just in reading this, but in your current state. Loneliness prepares you for the joy and blessing of marriage just as it prepares you to undertake the work of marriage. In God's good design, you will not just want to be married by the time marriage arrives; you will need to be married.

          Third, Adam did not invent marriage; God brought it to him. It was not Adam's idea but God's. It then follows that since marriage is by God's design, its arrangement and conduct must conform to His will.

          Fourth, women were explicitly created by God and in the image of God for marriage. As a man, I understand this and believe it. I cannot, however, allow myself to look down on women, brutalize them, consider them to be property, or to be somehow inferior to the male of the species. To the contrary, I should seek to elevate godly womanhood to the place of honor God gives them in His creation design.

          Fifth, the man was created from dust, but the woman was not; she was created from the man. And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female? And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? (Matthew 19.4-5) The sacred and intimate union that God designed to exist between a husband and a wife is the reason the dissolution of marriage is so painful. Divorce feels like a death because it is. Divorce is like severing part of your body, of yourself, from yourself.

          Most importantly, however, understanding marriage as honorable involves the realization that it represents the union between God and His people.

 

Ephesians 5.22–25

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

 

          How precious and valuable indeed must be that human relationship thus chosen to exemplify redemption itself and the church Jesus shed His blood to obtain. 

          What is marriage? Beloved, let us forget what the world and our experience have said on the subject. Let us hear God's voice on the matter. Marriage is a commitment. Marriage is a comfort. Marriage is a friendship. Marriage is a team. And marriage is honorable.

          Is yours? He intends it to be these things, and it can be these things— if we follow Him in the execution of it as we must believe Him in the design of it. Next week, then, we will turn from these foundational thoughts to some of the more practical aspects of marriage. We will begin with the husband first.

          See you then.

Marriage Is a Team

 

Marriage 6

 

 

          It is not good for man to be alone. It is really not good for a man to be alone when he is in a marriage. In fact, it is a crying tragedy. Yet it happens more often than we like to admit. And every time we see it, we know we are seeing an exhibition of a marriage God did not design. Why? Because God designed marriage to be a team.

          This is exemplified most clearly in a particular New Testament couple, Aquila and Priscilla. We meet them by way of Paul in Acts 18. He comes across them first in Corinth (Acts 18.1-2) and is drawn to them because they share an occupation, tent-making. Later in the same chapter, we meet Apollos, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures. (Acts 18.25) The problem is that Apollos was preaching John's baptism of repentance, looking forward to a coming Messiah. He should have been preaching Jesus. The Lord kindly sent him a couple of teachers. Whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. (Acts 18.26)  

          Something is fascinating here in a marriage context. Every-single-time they are mentioned in Scripture, by name or pronoun, they are together. Every single time. (Acts 18.2, 18.3, 18.18, 18.19, 18.20, 18.21, 18.26, Romans 16.3, I Corinthians 16.19, II Timothy 4.19) The Scripture tells us they worked together, traveled together, lived together, went to church together, converted together, studied theology together, and taught together. He did not build a ministry over here while she lived a separate life over there. They did it together.

          I think I understand that. Mandy and I serve the Lord together. I am a pastor, which means I do everything except work in the nursery and play the piano. She does those two, in addition to organizing ladies' activities, goes soul winning weekly, trains new soul winners, leads our homeschool group, does discipleship with me, does marital counseling with me, sings in the choir, decorates the auditorium, manages our prophet's chamber, teaches Sunday School periodically, sings special music with me and others, visits with me, and plans church activities with me. I do not have a separate life from her; she does not have a separate life from me. We serve the Lord together. At times, we have considered converting to Pentecostalism. Then, at least, we could get two salaries instead of one. <grin>

          Please do not misunderstand me. Every couple has a marriage dynamic that makes sense to you. I am not saying that your wife has to do with you everything my wife does with me. Nor am I saying that this alone is the answer to making a great marriage. But I am saying that there is a clear biblical example of one couple who were an awesome team. Together.

          This is one reason I have sought to move our church gradually toward using married couples together for ministry. Teach a class together. Go soul winning together. Be responsible for a service commitment together. Visit the shut-ins together. I do not want ministry service to impact the families in our church negatively. I try to be careful of what I ask with that in mind. But the solution is not to not serve God because of family commitments; it is to incorporate your family into your service to God.

          Of course, this is not applicable only to ministry. I am thinking right now of a dairy farmer of my acquaintance. He and his wife worked together for decades building their business. Many small businesses are like that, husband and wife laboring together, often with a child or three thrown into the mix as time goes along. I think we could make a decent argument that America was a better place when families worked together more than they do now.

          "Next thing you'll say, Pastor Brennan, is that we're even supposed to go bowling together. That's too much for a body to take." Yes. And no. It would be great if you joined a bowling league or a gardening club together. But, no, I am not saying you have to be together 24/7. I am saying your marriage should function as a team; that is how God designed it.

          If you want to be alone, then be alone. But if you get married, do not be alone. Be together.

Marriage is a team.

Marriage Is a Friendship

 

Marriage 5

 

          We have, perhaps unknowingly, accepted a warped view of marriage from our experience, our upbringing, our friends, and our culture. Thus, I am taking substantial time at the beginning of this series to emphasize how God views marriage. Because as God views marriage, we ought to view marriage.

          To that end, a brief but essential thought today: God views marriage as a friendship. In a passage in which he was rebuking Israel's leadership for their failing homes, Malachi tells us as much. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. (Malachi 2.14)  Solomon agrees, imparting the same sentiment to the wife in his story, though in reverse. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. (Song of Solomon 5.16)

          Friends are the family you pick. They are the ones we choose to spend time with, choose to place ourselves under obligation to, and choose to mingle our lives with. The resulting friendships, carried along on streams of affection and loyalty, enrich our lives for years, sometimes decades.

          My point here is this: the friend relationship was the first one you had with each other; add to that, do not replace it.

          It is easy, in marriage, to allow all the subsequent relationships to absorb or overtake that initial relationship. First, he was your friend, but then he became your lover, your provider, your maintenance man, and your co-parent. Reacting to each of those relationships takes time and focus, and in the process of learning to manage these and other aspects of the marriage relationship, all too often, the friendship is lost.

          I have long ago forgotten where I read this, but I remember it well nevertheless. The husband was discussing his marriage of twenty-five years or thereabouts. They had lived together as man and wife, kept the wolf away from the door, and raised children with all the grief and joy and prayer that entails. He said, “I looked up from my morning coffee over my newspaper and realized I didn’t know the woman sitting across from me at the breakfast table anymore.” Life happened. And in the process, friendship died.

          Sadly, such stories are not uncommon. We all know couples who were together for decades and then divorced. “We just grew apart,” they inevitably say. The question then before us is how do we prevent that from happening to us. Here again, I believe Scripture has the answer. A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18.24)

One of the most important foundational truths about marriage is you must be constantly moving toward each other. Move towards each other physically. Be in the same space. Move towards each other emotionally. Seek to understand how the other thinks and feels and why they do. Move towards each other financially. Mingle your lives together, support each other’s dreams. Move towards each other chronologically. Adjust whatever is necessary for you to adjust to spend time together. I could go on, but you get my drift, I think.

          Friendships may happen spontaneously, but they are not maintained spontaneously, especially when the relationship becomes complicated by the myriad of aspects included in a long-lasting marriage. In this environment, friendships are only maintained by showing yourself as friendly, to use the biblical phrase. Do what friends do. Be interested in their lives. Hang out together. Cultivate enjoyment in each other's company. Do not just love them; like them.

          Too many marriages become a business relationship. Schedule dominates while emotional connection evaporates. You wake up one day, and it dawns on you that you are just strangers who share a common history with all the accompanying entanglements.

          God designed marriage as a companionship first, or perhaps I should say, foundationally. Underneath everything else you two do and are is friendship. Whatever you place above that is dependent on that foundation. Marry your best friend, yes. And then stay married to your best friend. 

   

Marriage Is a Comfort

 

Marriage 4

 

          In beginning this series on marriage, I have attempted to emphasize God's view of marriage. This is because our view of marriage is often faulty, formed through some less-than-ideal manner. Thus far, we have noted that God's original intent for marriage was to banish loneliness, establish sweet intimacy, and for the wife to be her husband's helpmeet. Building off that, we saw that God views marriage as a commitment last time. Today, we will discover that God views marriage as a comfort.

          Numerous jokes imply that the marriage state is a painful one. Even an incomplete search for such things quickly yields finds such as these:

“My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.”

-Rodney Dangerfield

“Getting married is a lot like getting into a tub of hot water. After you get used to it, it ain't so hot.”

-Minnie Pearl

"I haven't spoken to my wife in years. I didn't want to interrupt her."

-Rodney Dangerfield

"The husband who wants a happy marriage should learn to keep his mouth shut and his checkbook open."

-Groucho Marx

“Do you know what it means to come home at night to a woman who'll give you a little love, a little affection, a little tenderness? It means you're in the wrong house, that's what it means.”

-Henny Youngman

“Alimony - The ransom that the happy pay to the devil.”

-H.L. Mencken

"My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe."

-Jimmy Durante

"I never married because I have three pets at home that answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon and a cat that comes home late at night."

-Marie Corelli

“The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret.”

-Henny Youngman

“If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married.”

-Katharine Hepburn

"I never knew what real happiness was until I got married. And by then it was too late."

-Max Kauffmann

"Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays."

-Henny Youngman

          I confess I am probably guilty of exploiting the subject of marriage for a cheap laugh or two myself, but the scriptural truth is that marriage is not a life sentence; it is a comfort. My wife is not "the old ball and chain" or "the battle axe." Your husband is not the dreamboat that became a shipwreck. Marriage is not an instrument of medieval torture akin to the rack; it is a beautiful tapestry woven of threads of cheerfulness, contentment, enjoyment, happiness, peace, pleasure, rest, satisfaction, and warmth.

          We see examples of this in Scripture on the positive and negative sides. Isaac found solace in his marriage to Rebekah. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. (Genesis 24.67) Job, on the other hand, found added misery in his marriage. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. (Job 2.8-9)

          I know what it is like to walk in the door of my home at night, weary and burdened with the cares of the day. In Eddy Arnold's immortal words, I want someone to "make the world go away, and get it off my shoulders; say the things you used to say, and make the world go away." And this is precisely what my family, led by my wife, does. I am home, the world is shut out, and nothing else matters. Mandy is my Rebekah.

          Did you know that you are supposed to enjoy your marriage? Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun. (Ecclesisates 9.9) Did you know God describes marriage as a good thing? Whose findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord. (Proverbs 18.22) Marriage is not an institution of suffering. Marriage is not a looming disaster on the horizon. It is a joyful, peaceful, blessed, good thing created by God for the comfort of men and women. In fact, God views marriage as a bit of Heaven on Earth. In Matthew 9.15, 22.9, and 25.1, Jesus repeatedly equates the kingdom of God to marriage. This is later expanded on in Revelation repeatedly.

Re 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Re 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Re 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Re 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

Re 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

          Marriage is such a great blessing that when God wanted something to compare the joy and blessing of an eternity in Heaven to on an earthly scale, He chose marriage.

          Some of us have become so colored by our past experiences or the prevailing culture of our day that we have trouble wrapping our minds around this. I am not denying that a good marriage takes incredible hard work. I am not denying there is often pain in marriage. I do not deny that every marriage comprises two imperfect, selfish people. But I am denying that our view of marriage ought to be negative.

          Often, all that is necessary for real change is to change your attitude about something. Many years ago, before Mandy and I had children, I said something to the effect that I thought newborn babies were ugly. She did not berate me. Instead, she looked at me and said simply, "You won't think that about your own babies." Nor did I. Now, to me, all newborns are beautiful. They did not change, but my attitude toward them did.

          When my attitude changed, what was once distasteful to me became a marvel of joy, beauty, and blessing. If your view of marriage is a negative one, I urge you to trade in your view of marriage for God's view of marriage.

Mandy and I are on our wedding day.

          Do you remember how you felt the day you got married? A little nervous. A little excited. A lot happy. Which is a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. (Psalm 19.5) Recapture that. Look at your marriage like God looks at your marriage. It is a good thing designed by Him to bless and comfort you.

          Change your mind. Rejoice in your marriage.

Marriage Is a Commitment

 

Marriage 3

          It is inarguable that our society's concept of marriage is enormously flawed. But society's idea of marriage is but the individual's concept of marriage writ large. This is one of the primary reasons such things need to be discussed in print and in person. Far too many people get their concept of marriage from a faulty source – their parent's marriage, their friend's marriage, how the media portrays marriage, their own experience, etc. Our philosophy of marriage ought to instead be driven by the Word of God. And as the Scripture informs our marriage, it will also, in turn, transform our marriage.

          Last week, we saw God's original intent for marriage, which was to have three purposes: a sweet intimacy, to banish loneliness, and for the wife to help her husband. Today, we will see that God views marriage as a commitment. We find this in I Corinthians 7.10-11. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

          Discussing divorce is like driving through a minefield blindfolded. There are bound to be explosions. But we cannot discuss marriage and avoid the topic. The balance of Scripture shows us that while divorce is allowed in certain circumstances, God's desire is for us to remain married. Words mean things, and the words with which we wed are no exception. Marriage is a commitment.

          “Yes, but God does allow divorce.”

          Agreed.

Matthew 19.3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

7  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

          David Smith gives us some helpful context here in his 1911 work, The Days of His Flesh:

The Mosaic Law permitted divorce when a wife proved faithless; but the Rabbinical interpreters after their wont disputed over this enactment. The school of Shammai, adhering to the letter of the Law, held that a wife should not be divorced except for unfaithfulness; whereas the school of Hillel, with a laxity very agreeable to the general inclination, allowed a husband to put away his wife "for every cause" - if he disliked her, if he fancied another woman more, if her cookery were not to his taste. The doctrine of Hillel was the common practice in our Lord's day, and it operated disastrously. It violated the sanctity of domestic life; and there is a hideous passage in the Talmud which shows what havoc it make of the obligations of morality. It was customary for a Rabbi of the school of Hillel, when he visited a strange town, to make public advertisement for a woman who would serve as his wife during his sojourn there. It was an inhuman system and inflicted cruel wrong upon womankind. It put the wife at her husband's mercy. She could not divorce him, but for any whim he might divorce her and cast her upon the world.

          To this, the 1930s era Southern Baptist John Shepard agrees, writing in his work, Christ of the Gospels:

The school of Hillel said it was lawful "for every cause," even for the most trivial offenses. The Jewish woman could not divorce her husband, as could the Roman and Greek women; but the man could put his wife away for almost any senseless excuse. They took the words: "the matter of shame" in Deuteronomy, in the widest possible sense: if "she found no favour in his eyes," or "he found another woman more attractive" - which sounds modern enough - he could put her away. Many specific offenses were enumerated, such as going public with uncovered head, entering into conversation with other men, speaking disrespectfully of the husband's parents in his presence, burning the bread, being quarrelsome or troublesome, getting a bad reputation or being childless (for ten years). The school of Hillel had prevailed, and there was great general moral laxity now. The Mosaic law really permitted divorce only for the cause of unfaithfulness, but the popular conception among the Jews at the time of Jesus was that of the Rabbinical interpreters of the school of Hillel. Women had become mere chattel of man, subject to his inhuman and cruel treatment. The Pharisees well understood that if Jesus took the side of Shammai or the stricter view of divorce, He would alienate a greater part of the multitude.

          The Pharisees in this passage were attempting to chip away at Jesus' popularity by forcing Him to take a strict stand on divorce publicly. Jesus, of course, could have easily outwitted their conversational trap if He so desired. We know this, for He often did in other contexts. Yet in this one, our Lord chose to answer plainly, knowing his answer would be unpopular. In other words, He felt strongly enough about this to lose a verbal skirmish with the Pharisees and take a hit in the people's minds.

          Does God allow divorce? Yes, but only for sexual infidelity.

          Does God allow divorce? Yes, but He does not desire you to divorce, no matter the reason; He only allows such because of the hardness of your heart. In other words, it is plain and clear to me that God views marriage as an irrevocable commitment rather than a temporary election. In the first mention of marriage, we looked at the last time we saw this in the use of the word "cleave" in Genesis 2. It does not mean separate, i.e., a cleaver. It means to be joined fast together, i.e. welded. You weld two metals together if you are looking for a permanent union, one that will endure under the most harrowing circumstances.

          Put another way round, marriage is more covenant than contract. A contract can be broken with no more fuss than a financial penalty, perhaps. A covenant in the biblical context was almost always irrevocable. In God's view, marriage is a covenant decision whose permanence is essential to producing godly children.

Malachi 2.13  And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

14  Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

15  And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

16  For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

          In my experience, there are two different responses from Christians at this point. I should say rather that this teaching exposes two different kinds of Christians. The first kind is Christians who search the Bible to see precisely what God allows so that they may live right up to the edge of that which is permissible. Their approach can be summed up with the immortal question, "But what's wrong with…?" Anything not ruled out is thus fair game.

          The second type of Christian responds to the exact same scenarios with an entirely different question: "But what is right with…?" Such Christians do not want to know what God will let them get away with; instead, their heartbeat is to discover what God wants and give it to Him. After all, when you love someone, you do not seek to establish how much you can get away with. No, your goal is to ascertain their slightest wish so that you can grant it to them as an expression of your love. 

          As of this writing, I have pastored for twenty-seven years. In that time, I have never advised any couple to get divorced. Why? Because I understand that divorce is not what God wants, even if it is what He allows in limited circumstances. Why? I think there are several answers here. Pragmatically speaking, contemplating divorce undermines the total commitment essential to being a good partner. Pictorially, divorce ruins the frame God seeks to place around marriage, that of Christ's relationship to the local church. Additionally, divorce produces a severe negative impact on the ability of the father and mother to raise a godly seed.

          Regardless of whether I am correct in my analysis of God's position on divorce, it cannot be argued that a sense of commitment is the very ground on which a stable marriage is built. We are fallible, changeable, malleable, temporary creatures. We must hem in the emotional roller coaster of our whims with the iron rails of the marital vow.

          What is marriage? It is many things, but first, it is this: commitment.

 

 

When I quote the vows for young people as they are getting married, there is not a single statement that is based on bargaining, agreement, or contract; it is a commitment.

- Jack Hyles, Marriage Is A Commitment