Oct 20, 2020
Good Morning Fellow Travelers,
Read: Eph 5:22-33
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1Co 13:4-7 NKJV).
In March of 2006, my wife and I were married in a village church in Ukraine. I can remember this day very well. The weather was cold and snowy but inside the building and in my heart it was warm. I can still see and hear myself standing and saying my vows beside my young love.
Fourteen years later our married life is better than on that day in that frigid village of Eastern Europe. Recently my wife said that she didn’t know it could keep getting better. Are we perfect? No. Have we ever considered leaving each other? No. At least not seriously.
One Reason…
My wife and I have not entertained the idea of separating because God has said a husband and wife are one union until one of them dies. This has been true from the beginning of time. Jesus told the Pharisees…
“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,’ and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’ ? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mat 19:4-6 NKJV)
So from the beginning the plan of God has been that when a man and a woman come together in marriage they are now not two flesh but one. In other words, they can be and are joined physically and this physical bond is to be only between those two people until one or the other dies.
In our world we see sinful man straying from the reality of God’s Word. Many have had multiple partners before they are married. This is the work of the God’s enemy Satan who is out to destroy what God has designed as beautiful. Satan also has other tactics he has conceived to tear down marriages. Unhealthy internet activity, immoral dating practices, adultery, lust, and even homosexuality are temptations Satan uses to undermine and destroy the beauty of marriages as God designed them.
After my wife and I wrote to each other, called over the phone, sat down and talked, and even traveled together we decided that we wanted to be together for life. We chose each other and now are choosing every day to be together and to obey God.
Another Reason…
We are also together now for these fourteen years because we love each other. We care about each other. We talk about life together. We have had a few children born to us so now have a family. My wife and I even in the busyness of life do special things for each other. We speak encouraging words. We hug. We laugh. We even cry together sometimes. This is married life and we love it.
Some people decide that they are tired of their companion and get a divorce so they can remarry someone they think they will like better. Jesus said… “Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.”
What can you do to have a long, lasting, joyful marriage? First you must love God with all of your heart and want to obey Him and His Word. Then you must understand that marriage is for life and choose to stick it out through thick and thin. (your children will thank you for this) And last but not least, practice love one for another.
~ Harold Troyer
