The one who has found a good wife has found what goodness is, and obtained a delightful gift from the LORD.
(Proverbs 18:22)
Marriage is a lifelong commitment. It is a special partnership between a man and a woman where two become one flesh. It is more than friendship. It is a mystical, spiritual union.
Marriage was God’s idea and it is still His idea. Marriage was not the invention of government, it was not to maintain social order, nor was it for economic convenience; it was designed by God. Marriage can never fill the God-shaped void in our hearts, however, and no spouse can bring ongoing joy to our lives. No matter how close we are to a lover, it is still not the intimacy that we can know with God. The Lord is the bridegroom and we are to be His bride.
The intimacy of sexual intercourse is to be preserved in and reserved for marriage. Indiscriminate sexual relations carry a great price and sexual infidelity can and often does break a marriage. Unfaithfulness in marriage can bring death to all relationships. It breaks the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual bonds of intimacy between a husband and a wife. Infidelity may literally bring disease, death, as well as violent retribution from the rageful, offended spouse or lover. The goals of marriage are to have full and open communication and confidence in one another and to build up one another all of the days of life together.
Why do so many marriages go bad? How would you, your family, and your friends rate your marriage? How do you intend to make your marriage “go the distance”? What qualities do you see in the best marriages that make for success?