MARITAL HEALTH

“Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth” – Proverbs 5:18

Health and Well-being are practically demonstrated in the form of MARITAL HEALTH: “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth” (Pro.5:18). This portrays a marriage that remains sweet and blessed with age. A healthy marriage is not a perfect marriage, but one in which the spouses lean on God for help to do marriage His Way. Marriage is more than just a wedding day – it is lifelong commitment that entails love, devotion, selflessness, kindness and care.

Marriage seems to be a threatened and dying institution in many climes. Divorce and failed marriages are prevalent, and many people are becoming disillusioned. The statistics within the church are no different. Something needs to change. Proverbs 5 reveals the perils of adultery, which is a recipe for disaster! All of a man’s energy should be focused on his wife, while she needs to be available for him. Marriage is a give and take relationship, a mutual working together to achieve love! Here are Five Building Blocks of a Healthy Marriage – Biblical Marriage principles that will restore Hope and rekindle Love:

GOD is the Primary Source of Marital Health: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Pro.3:5). The entirety of Life should begin with dependence upon the Lord: “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Mt.6:33). The starting point is Salvation. Without God in the life of the partners, a healthy marriage is not guaranteed. Otherwise, one partner has the task of winning the other by the witness of his or her life (1Pet.3:1). Letting God guide is the key to true fulfilment; seeking His will keeps a couple on the right path. Amidst difficulties, God restores the most broken relationships. If He joined the union, He can mend the broken pieces.

GOD’s WORD is the Marriage Manufacturer’s Manual because God is the Author and Initiator of the Institution. God, not man, said: “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Gen.2:18). Without God’s Word, more marriages are doomed to fail. We need to return to the Scriptures to have healthy marriages. It’s not enough to be saved, we need to spend time with God and get to know Him! He has plans for our lives and marriages, which we may never know unless we abide in His Word. In contrast, the enemy wants us divorced, depressed, and far from God’s Plan.

PRAYER is paramount to Marital Health: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (Jam.5:16). Prayers can either be enhanced or hindered in marriage (Mt.18:19; 1Pet.3:7). God longs for an intimate relationship with us. He loves us and cherishes hearing our voices. Consistency and fervency are vital: a set time daily. Fasting enhances prayers when harsh seasons come in marriage (Mt.17:21). When two flawed humans cohabit, tempers may flare, selfishness may emerge, and sin may surface.

COMMITMENT is the foundation for a healthy marriage: commitment to God and to the marriage covenant. The emotion of love comes and goes and cannot be relied on, but we can choose to love – every day, by standing firm in commitment: “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate” (Mt.19:6).

LOVE and SUBMISSION: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord….Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Eph.5:22,25). Trust and forgiveness are vital ingredients of love: “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col.3:13-14). Forgiving our spouse is crucial.

As we press into God and seek to do Marriage His way, He will bless and equip us to build and enjoy healthy marriages.