Do you realize just how important your marriage is?
It’s important to you, to your spouse, and to your family…
But do you realize the full purpose of what it is we are asked to live out through our marriages? That God has a deeper goal than just bringing you close to another person?
And do you value your marriage like it has that much purpose?
When we look in the Bible, we see three big, world-changing purposes of a marriage that’s lived out the way God designed:
1. Our one-ness mirrors the image of God.
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” When God was creating humanity, He endowed each and every person with the role of image-bearer. Every man and every woman, in their personalities, emotions, and God-given uniqueness, reflects a tiny part of who our Creator is. But, as I’m sure you have noticed, men and women are wired very differently from one another. We think differently, we react differently, our brains literally function differently — we were each given different parts of our God to reflect. And when we are joined together in marriage, we are better able to reflect to the world who our God is and a little of how He works. We are more fully able to bring Him glory for His wondrous creativity.
2. Our relationship paints a picture of Jesus’s relationship with the church.
God designed roles for men and women within marriage that are different from one another. Both require humility and hard work, and both show us how God cares for the Church. Ephesians 5:22-28 says:
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.”
As wives submit to their husbands, they are showing Christians how they should be submitting to their Savior. As husbands care for their wives, they are showing the sacrificial love that Jesus has for those who put their faith in Him.
3. Our partnership is designed to help us better serve the Lord.
In Genesis 2:18, in the Garden of Eden after Adam was created, we hear God saying, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” God designed humans to live in such a way that we depend on one another. We aren’t designed to be hermits and we can’t fully grow or work on our own. That’s true of every person, married or not. Marriage, however, is designed to provide this companionship and support in a special way. As we are connected with another person in a way that no other relationship connects us, we can push and encourage each other to grow in our relationship with God, to raise godly children, and to use our individual gifts to serve God better. Marriage provides an even stronger framework for spiritual support and partnership. And what a help and blessing that is!
We all know we are supposed to work to make our marriages better. It only makes sense, after all. We have to live with this person every day!
But there is a lot more than a harmonious home that is affected here. Working on our marriages is an act of submission to God’s plan, really an act of worship to Him.
Strong marriages can actually be used by God to point people to Himself and to demonstrate His deep, abiding love for people!
(And we thought marriage was pretty amazing anyway!)
Share your story! What practical tips do you have for strengthening marriages? And how do you remind yourself of the God-glorifying purposes of your marriage?
