Marriage according to the Bible

Marriage is an important issue in Christian life. Numerous books, magazines and marriage counseling resources are dedicated to the topic of marriage preparation and marriage improvement. In the Bible there are more than 500 references to the words "marriage", "married", "husband" and "wife" in the Old and New Testaments.

Christian marriage and divorce today
According to statistical analysis conducted on various demographic groups, a marriage that starts today is approximately 41-43 percent likely to end in divorce. Research collected by Glenn T. Stanton, director of Global Insight for cultural and family renewal and senior analyst for marriage and sexuality at Focus on the Family, reveals that evangelical Christians who regularly attend church divorce at a lower rate 35% compared to secular couples. Similar trends are found in the practice of Catholics and Protestants active on the front lines. By contrast, nominal Christians, who rarely or never attend church, have a higher divorce rate than secular couples.

Stanton, who is also the author of Why Marriage Matters: Reasons to Believe in Marriage in Postmodern Society, reports: "Religious commitment, rather than mere religious affiliation, contributes to greater levels of marital success."

If an authentic commitment to your Christian faith will result in a stronger marriage, then perhaps the Bible really has something important to say on the subject.

The wedding was designed for companionship and intimacy
The Lord God said: 'It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a suitable help for him '... and while he slept, he took one of the man's ribs and closed the place with meat.

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she will be called "woman", since she was taken away by man ". For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and join his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:18, 21-24, NIV)
Here we see the first union between a man and a woman: the inaugural marriage. From this account in Genesis we can conclude that marriage is an idea of ​​God, designed and instituted by the Creator. We also discover that the company and intimacy are at the heart of God's plan for marriage.

The roles of men and women in marriage
Because a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of his body, the church; he gave his life to be his Savior. Just as the church submits to Christ, so wives must submit to your husbands in everything.

And you husbands must love your wives with the same love that Christ showed to the church. She gave up her life to make it holy and clean, washed by baptism and the word of God. She did it to present it to herself as a glorious church without stain, wrinkles or other imperfections. Instead, she will be holy and blameless. Likewise, husbands should love their wives as much as they love their bodies. Because a man really loves himself when he loves his wife. Nobody hates their body but cares for it lovingly, just as Christ takes care of his body, which is the church. And we are his body.
As the scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and joins his wife, and the two are united in one." This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way in which Christ and the church are one. Ephesians 5: 23-32, NLT)
This image of marriage in Ephesians expands into something much wider than companionship and intimacy. The marriage relationship illustrates the relationship between Jesus Christ and the church. Husbands are invited to leave life in sacrificial love and in the protection of wives. In the safe and loved embrace of a loving husband, which wife would not willingly submit to her guidance?

Husbands and wives are different but equal
Likewise, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands, even those who refuse to accept the Good News. Your divine lives will speak to them better than any word. They will be won over by looking at your pure and divine behavior.
Don't worry about outward beauty ... You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unstoppable beauty of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which is so precious to God ... Likewise, you husbands must honor your wives. Treat it with understanding while living together. He may be weaker than you, but he is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers won't be heard. (1 Peter 3: 1-5, 7, NLT)
Some readers will drop out right here. Telling husbands to take an authoritative role in marriage and wives to present is not a popular directive today. Even so, this arrangement in marriage characterizes the relationship between Jesus Christ and his bride, the church.

This verse in 1 Peter adds further encouragement for wives to submit to their husbands, even those who do not know Christ. Although this is a difficult challenge, the verse promises that the wife's divine character and inner beauty will conquer the husband more effectively than his words. Husbands must honor their wives, be kind, kind and understanding.

If we are not careful, however, we will miss that the Bible says that men and women are equal partners in God's gift of new life. Although the husband exercises the role of authority and command and the wife performs a role of submission, both are equal heirs in the kingdom of God. Their roles are different but equally important.

The purpose of marriage is to grow together in holiness
1 Corinthians 7: 1-2

... It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, every man should have his wife and every woman his husband. (NIV)
This verse suggests that it is better not to get married. Those in difficult marriages would soon agree. Throughout history, it has been believed that a deeper commitment to spirituality could be achieved through a life dedicated to celibacy.

This verse refers to sexual immorality. In other words, it is better to get married than to be sexually immoral. But if we elaborate the meaning to incorporate all forms of immorality, we could easily include egocentrism, greed, wanting to control, hatred and all the issues that emerge when we enter into an intimate relationship.

Is it possible that one of the most profound purposes of marriage (in addition to procreation, intimacy and companionship) is to force us to confront our own character defects? Think about the behaviors and attitudes that we would never see or never see outside of an intimate relationship. If we allow the challenges of marriage to force us into self-confrontation, we exercise a spiritual discipline of enormous value.

In his book, The Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas asks this question: "What if God planned marriage to make us saints more than to make us happy?" Is it possible that there is something much deeper in the heart of God than simply making us happy?

Without a doubt, a healthy marriage can be the source of great happiness and satisfaction, but Thomas suggests something even better, something eternal - that marriage is God's instrument to make us more like Jesus Christ.

In God's plan, we are called to establish our ambitions to love and serve our spouse. Through marriage we learn love, respect, honor and how to forgive and be forgiven. We recognize our flaws and grow from that vision. We develop the heart of a servant and draw closer to God. Consequently, we discover true happiness of the soul.