The Gospel on Display in Your Marriage

So, in looking at the life and legacy of St.
Valentine, it's hard to ascertain the truth and separate myth from reality.
In fact, there's reportedly two to three valentines or St. Valentine's that are
apparently alive during the period in question. But in doing some research,
two central facts begin to emerge that are really quite...
all about erotic and romantic love, the man himself, Valentine himself,
did not experience such love, supposedly. The second thing that we learn is that not
only was Valentinus a celibate Christian priest, he was a celibate Christian priest
in the third century before Christianity was legalized. So under the reign of Emperor
Claudius, Christians were severely ostracized and persecuted. And on top of that,
Claudius believed that marriage, particularly Christian marriage, was stymying his
ability to raise an army. In his mind, if he took legal action and even outlawed
marriage, young men would be more inclined to join the army. Well, this made no
difference to valentinus he was still going to perform and officiate Christian
marriages even if it was illegal to do so this would eventually get him martyred on
February 14th either around 269 or 270 AD now again this is quite ironic right
because how many people today who celebrate Valentine's Day are actually prepared to
die and even be martyred for a traditional view of Christian marriage. And so this
begs the question, what are people, by and large, celebrating on Valentine's Day?
If you were to poll the random stranger in the street and ask them this question,
they would most likely say, I'm celebrating love, right? and not the historic St.
Valentine. But just as I indicated, it's a romantic love that's being celebrated, an
erotic love that people celebrate today. It's the kind of love that makes you feel
good. It's the kind of love that gives you the warm and fuzzy feelings,
right? To use the old expression, that puppy dog love. And so this morning,
we're going to spend less time looking at this puppy dog love and more time looking
at a Christ -centered biblical love. And if you were able to join us last week,
you'll know that Pastor Bob got us started on this total marriage makeover.
We looked at Colossians 3, 1 through 14 in the context of marriage. We did this,
of course, with the understanding that even though this passage does not explicitly
refer to marriage, there is much we can glean from it when it comes to marriage.
So before we read this text this morning, I would like to offer the same disclaimer
that Bob offered last week, that just because we're talking a lot about marriage
does not mean all those who are unmarried here this morning should tune out. In
fact, the passage that we have before us this morning is for everyone who considers
themselves hidden in Christ. And with that stand,
will you please stand for the reading of God's word as I read, Colossians 314
through 17?
Colossians 3 14 through 17 says this.
And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which you indeed were called in
one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
teaching and admonishing one another in all Wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do,
in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
the Father through Him. You may be seated.
So how can we apply this text to marriage this morning? What's the central takeaway
for marriage for us?
and gratitude. That's the big idea for this morning. And so I've already kind of
given some context for the sermon, but I want to provide some context of this
passage. Paul is writing to the church in Colossi. This is a relatively young
church. And as I was thinking about the youth of the believers in Colossi,
We got this reminder this week that Redeemer celebrated 18 years as being a church.
So think of that in the context of who we are as Redeemer. Colossi is barely 10
years old. So they haven't even made it to the teenage years as a church. So Paul
is riding to a relatively young church that was facing certain false teachings and
heresies regarding asceticism and false worship practices. And after laying some
doctrinal and devotional groundwork in Colossians 1 through 2,
Paul begins to address what the life of a believer should look like in chapter 3.
In fact, if you think about it, what we have here, and Colossians 3 1 through 4
is the entirety of the Christian life summed up in four verses.
A believer is said to have been raised with Christ. We are then called to seek the
things that are above where Christ is. We're called to set our mind on things that
are above, giving us an eternal perspective for the entirety of our lives.
So even though we're on earth, confronted by earthly challenges, we're to remain
heavenly -minded.
And to help us do that, we are to consider our lives hidden with Christ.
Our union with Him can only be described as being hidden with Him.
So that when He appears in glory, we will also appear with Him in glory.
Is that not the Christian life in a nutshell?
We're dead in sins and trespasses. We were raised with him. Our lives are now
hidden with him. And one day he will bring us with him to glory. That's the
Christian life in a nutshell. Until then, we are to have a new perspective,
a heavenly perspective, as we learned last week. until then we're to have a new
identity, we're to consider ourselves as hidden with Christ.
So with this new perspective and new identity as believers, it is no wonder that
Paul commands us to live differently. He commands us to put to death what is
earthly in us, sexual immorality, evil desire, covetousness,
anger, malice, slander. I told Bob this last week that it was so convicting to look
at that viceless in the context of marriage, right? Far too often,
we can convince ourselves that we do not struggle with such things, but then we
look at the state of our marriage, right, and we quickly sing a different tune. I
know that that was the case for me, but Paul calls believers to not only just put
off certain vices, but to put on certain virtues, which goes to show you that the
ethical and moral life of the believer is not something just marked by negation.
The Christian life is more than just subtracting sin, right?
According to Paul, we're also called to put on. Last week, we looked at certain
things every believer is called to put on and how those virtues should shape a
Christian marriage. This week, we'll look at the central and defining Christian virtue
and what it looks like to put on love and marriage. This leads me to my first
point.
is the very embodiment of love. He's the very manifestation of it.
He is love in the flesh. And of course, the gospel message is that he came in
love to reconcile those of us who were alienated and separated from God.
Jesus willingly lays down his life for his bride, for the elect.
He does this out of love for his own glory and by extension for the love of his
people, his bride, his elect. Make no mistake. It was love that drove Jesus to the
cross, a love that is eternal, boundless, and free. A love divine,
all loves excelling.
And it is this same love that the believer is called to put on.
It is this love that goes on to define the Christian. St.
Augustine would notably say, Pondis meum, Miam Amor Mius,
which is Latin for, My love is my weight. What does that mean?
it means that love is to be the central defining characteristic in a believer's
life. It is to influence every motive, action,
thought, word, and deed.
In short, love is the weight. It's the substance of the believer.
So I ask in the context of marriage, is your love, your weight in marriage?
Is it the single substance that drives your marriage? Is it the all -encompassing,
deciding influence in your marriage? Maybe you're thinking, Pastor Cole,
I love my spouse. Don't get me wrong. But there are some days love is not my
weight. There are some days where my love tank is on empty. Have you heard that
expression before? Maybe you've even used that expression before, that your love tank
is on empty. I have, I've used that. There are certain days where it's like
Murphy's Law, right? Everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
In six years of marriage, Hannah and I have many days like this. This week even,
in the span of 24 hours, Hannah's work computer crashed out and her car's check
engine light came on. Right? That's law right there. Now,
on days like those, it's easy for the both of us to believe that the day has
somehow sapped us of our love for one another. Right? That it's easy for us to
justify snapping at one another and anger because of our love tanks being on empty.
Right? But it goes back to what I just said. Friends, the love that we put on,
the love that we draw from is the love of God.
It is Christ himself that we put on. The fountainhead of all eternal and boundless
love. So how dare we say that our love tanks are on empty.
What a foolish thing to believe. We can confidently vow at the altar that we will
love our spouse unto the grave because of the deep and boundless love of God.
Just as nothing that we experience here on earth can separate us from the love of
God, we can likewise say this about our marriage. Let no man separate what God has
joined together. No matter what life in this fallen world brings,
sorrow and suffering included, the love of Christ in us simply will not run out.
And when we are abiding in Christ, putting on his love, our love for our spouse
will not run either. Run out either. The love,
the only love tank that can go empty is a love tank that is filled with selfish
and worldly love.
And that's not the way of love given to us by Christ. The Christ -centered love
we're called to put on that's being prescribed here is a self -emptying and
sacrificial love. The believer is called to exercise what I like to call a cruciform
love. This is the love that drove Jesus to the cross. It is a love that had him
sweating blood in the garden and compelled him to say, not what I will,
but what you will.
Marriage is oftentimes filled with conflicting and competing desires,
is it not? This has been made more and more evident in our house this week, as
Hannah and I are in the home buying process. We've had to discuss what each of us
wants in a house and come together to find something that works for the both of
us. As you may know, the home buying process is very stressful.
Needless to say, there were several points this week where the both of us needed to
put on the cruciform love of Christ.
And all that to say, the love that we're commanded to put on as believers is vast
and eternal,
as well as selfless and sacrificial. Since it is a love that flows out of the
character of God, we can practice such a love when we are in fellowship with Him.
And that's the kicker, right? Our love for our spouse will only go as deep as our
fellowship with God. Our love and devotion to our spouse is oftentimes indicative of
our fellowship with God. I've noticed this in my own life. When my love has grown
cold or callous, it's because I have not been spending time in sweet communion with
God. So let me ask you this. Is your lack of love for your spouse suggestive of
something deeper?
1. John 419, we love because he first loved us.
Has the love of God infiltrated your heart and permeate through your soul to your
spouse? If it has, well, it's like Augustine says, your love becomes your weight.
It becomes the single motivating factor behind all that you do.
I would also draw your attention to something that is said at the beginning of the
put -on sequence in verse 12. Look at verse 12. You are put on,
you are to put on these virtues as holy and what?
Beloved. In other words, we put on love as beloved people.
So not only is your love,
is to put on Christ. And once we put on love, our relationships,
our marriages will be marked by peace and gratitude.
Which brings me to my next point. A loving marriage that is marked by peace. Look
at verses 14 through 15 again. And above all these, put on love,
which binds everything together in perfect harmony and let the peace of Christ rule
in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful.
So when we put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony, a Christ
-centered peace will begin to rule and reign in your heart.
Love is the glue. It's this stabilizing force that brings about peace in all of our
relationships, including marriage. Now, a keen exegesis of this text will tell us
that Paul is primarily speaking of peace here in the context of the church.
That's what he means by being called into one body. In the immediate context,
Paul is advocating for the peace of Christ in the church that flows out of every
individual believer's heart. But let me ask you this. What other institution in the
Bible is also called, also referred to as one body,
or more specifically, one flesh? And we know that according to Ephesians 5,
marriage is to be the visible representation for Christ's love for his church.
So although Paul is mainly talking about peace, reigning in the life of a unified
one -body church, we can see a direct correlation between the peace that should
characterize our churches and the peace that should characterize our marriages.
And indeed, there is great peace to be found whenever you or your spouse are united
together in the one -flesh union. When one reads the New Testament,
one can't help with being confronted by the reality that the home is meant to act
as a microcosm or a mini church.
See, the very same values and foundational principles that undergird a church are to
be replicated in home and marriage. So with that, let me ask you this.
Is your marriage marked by peace? Does the peace of Christ rule and reign in y
'all's hearts, or is marriage marked by constant bickering and strife?
Again, if you're constantly at odds with your spouse, can I simply suggest that
something deeper is going on? Something deeper is at play here? Romans 5 .1 says,
therefore, since We have been justified by faith. We have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Those of us who have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ are
at peace with God. We have received peace from Him, right?
We're reconciled to him and no longer considered his enemy.
This is the new relationship we have with God.
Those of us who have experienced peace with God will inevitably have the peace of
God permeate through our hearts overflowing into all our relationships.
In other words, if you've experienced the vertical peace with God, your heart is
going to show and display the horizontal peace of God to others.
And in the context of marriage, even two sinners can be at peace. Now,
here's how I want to qualify this. Oftentimes, that peace is built upon a wrong or
unbiblical foundation. For example, one could argue that Ahab and Jezebel had a
peaceful marriage. There was no love lost between the two as they were yet
systematically destroying Israel.
And this is an insightful quote from Rebecca Van de Ward, who is a writer for
Ligonier ministry. She says a marriage can be peaceful if husband and wife carry on
their own...
peace in the relationship. It's the source and goal of that peace. Peace that comes
from apathy, fear, selfishness, or any other sin is a false peace,
one that will lead to ultimate distress and isolation. Peace can happen for the
wrong reasons, she says. What a convicting observation,
Right? I'll be honest. I've pursued peace for the wrong reasons.
In full disclosure, I've pursued peace for selfish reasons. Occasionally when I've
sinned against Hannah, I find myself apologizing to her just to keep the peace.
But I'm helping neither me nor Hannah when I do this. Because when I do this,
I'm not actually aiming for peace as I am for appeasement. When I aim for
appeasement, I'm not actually looking to uproot the issue that prompted the apology
in the first place. So I can say, I'm sorry until the cows come home and seek to
appease Hannah, but until I actually work to repent of and mortify the problem.
I'm not pursuing peace for the right reasons.
What does it look like to pursue peace for the right reasons? I think this is an
important question to answer because Christians are people who have the peace of
Christ ruling in our hearts and therefore have the ability to pursue peace rightly.
You can rightly pursue peace when you listen to the opposite side of a disagreement
without simultaneously formulating a response. This is something else I struggle with.
I oftentimes will be listening to Hannah in a discussion or disagreement,
and all the while I'm thinking of a response and not actually listening to her.
In preparing for this message, I was reminded of this verse, be quick to listen and
slow to speak.
And just how perfectly it fits in the context of peacemaking and marriage.
And I simply have to ask how peaceful would our marriages be if we just listen to
one another.
Someone who is quick to listen and slow to speak is someone who is pursuing peace
rightly, right? You can also pursue peace rightly when you aim for reconciliation in
all conflicts. And I did use the word all there.
Whether big or small, our aim should be for reconciliation in all conflicts.
The age -old adage, don't make a mountain out of a molehill, has a certain wisdom
to it when it comes to peacemaking in marriage. And part of having the eternal
perspective that we talked about last week means that the problems we face in
marriage diminish in size when compared to eternity.
Think about, I mean, think about the last conflict that you had with your spouse. I
think about, I mean, just what, you know, the last conflict that Hannah and I had.
Did it really matter in the grand scheme of eternity? Right? There are certain
conflicts that Hannah and I have in marriage that we get to the end of and we
can't even remember what the conflict was over.
Now, you're probably wondering, or probably saying this, Cole, our problems are well
past the molehill stage, right? And you probably believe that the issues in marriage
are beyond the aims of reconciliation,
that true and lasting peace in marriage may be a pipe dream at this point. But can
I just hold out the hope of the gospel for a second? Can I do that?
The gospel tells
require counseling and perhaps even time and space away from one another. But there
is lasting hope. There's always hope that God can intervene for his glory and for
the lasting peace and security of marriage.
Friends, I'll add that if you or your loved one or maybe you know someone or
struggling to find peace and marriage. If the peace of Christ is not something
that's ruling and reigning in y 'all's marriage, don't hesitate to reach out to
someone. I'll go on to say that Redeemer has a stacked team of well -trained
pastors, people, elders who are willing to help. Over the three and a half years
I've been here, I've seen time and time again our staff, our elders take care of
and counsel couples for the glory of God and of the good of their marriage. I've
seen it happen. So whoever you reach out to, whether it's me, whether it's Carlos
or whoever, you can know that you'll be receiving good and thoughtful wisdom on how
to acquire true and lasting peace in a
But again, I say this, this can only happen if the peace of Christ is ruling and
reigning in your own heart.
And those of you who are single or unmarried in the room, don't hear me saying
that the peace of Christ is exclusively reserved for married folk. In fact,
if you're a single person in the room and you're hoping to be married someday,
one of the first things I would have you look at when preparing for marriage is
your ability to extend the peace of Christ to others.
What do I mean by that? In other words, if your relationships are being constantly
upended by fighting and by quarrels, would you say that you're ready for marriage?
Because I would say that not only are you not ready for marriage, but I would even
question if the peace of Christ is ruling and reigning in your heart.
Perhaps a better question is how do you handle conflict and your friendships or in
your relationships at work? These relationships are often the training ground that God
uses us to shape us for marriage. Are you a person who is quick to listen and
slow to speak? Do you aim for reconciliation in all conflicts, bigger, small?
Because to the extent that you do reveals the extent at which the peace of Christ
rules in your hearts.
Now, before I move on to the next section on gratitude, I want to lay before you
10 practical steps to have peace in your marriage. And this is marriage advice from
a Puritan pastor, 17th century Puritan pastor, Richard Baxter. There are 10 steps
here, or 10 piece of advice, and I think all 10 are worth quoting and siding.
He says this, keep up your conjugal love and a constant heat and vigor.
Number two, both husband and wife must mortify their pride and passion,
which are the causes of impatience, and must pray and labor for a humble,
meek, and quiet spirit. Number three, remember still that you are both diseased
persons full of infirmities and therefore expect the fruit of those infirmities in
each other and make not a strange matter of it as if you had never known of it
before. Remember, this is number four, remember still that you are a one flesh and
therefore be no more offended with the words or failings of each other's than you
would be if they were your own. Number five, agree together.
and must be companions of each other's fortunes and the comforts of each other's
lives, and then you'll see how absurd it is for you to disagree and vex each
other.
Number seven, as far as you are able, avoid all occasions of wrath and falling out
about the matters of your families. Number eight, if you cannot quickly quench your
passion, yet at least refrain your tongues. Speak not,
reproachful or provoking words. Talking it out hotly blows the fire and increases the
flame. But be but silent and you will sooner return to your serenity and Peace.
Number nine, let the sober party condescend to speak fairly and to entreat the
other, unless it be with a person so insolent as will be the worst. And then
lastly, and this may be the most important thing to do, confess your fault to one
another, when passion has prevailed against you, and ask forgiveness of each other,
and join in prayer to God for pardon. Some wise words, right?
I mean, how practical is that? I mean, this is so real. This is something that you
can implement daily in your marriage. And I pray that it helps you as you seek to
let the peace of Christ rule and reign in y 'all's hearts in marriage.
But a loving marriage will not only be marked by peace, it will be marked by
gratitude. A loving marriage will be marked by gratitude.
This is my third point. Look at the end of verse 15 through 17.
I love, I mean, just the bluntness of this. The end of verse 15.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another at
all wisdom, singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your
hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Okay, I want to make two simple points about these verses.
Firstly,
gratitude comes by way of the, sorry, gratitude comes by the word of Christ when it
is taught in sung. Gratitude comes by the word of Christ when it is taught and
sung. Secondly, gratitude comes about by doing everything in the name of Christ.
And both of these points can be applied in the context of marriage. You see, when
we're grateful for who God is and what he has done for us in Christ, we are more
prone to be grateful for our spouse. It should come as no shock that the more
thankful you are vertically with God, the more thankful you will be horizontally with
others.
Gratitude comes by way of the Word of Christ, dwelling in us richly.
When you come into contact with the God of the Bible, who he is and what he is
like, you can't help but be thankful.
When you encounter him in the pages of Scripture, the more you get to know him,
the more thankful you become. Let me give you a quick example. Whenever I'm
confronted by the weight of my sin and the comparison of God's,
in comparison to God's eternal and perfect holiness revealed in the scriptures,
I am just so thankful that for the grace he has decided to show me in the sending
of his son, Jesus.
That marks a, a, that marks a, a,
And if we're looking at this in the context of marriage, this should be an
encouragement to have the Word of Christ to dwell in you richly. This is an
encouragement for the Word of Christ to dwell in you richly. It's simple. If you
want to cultivate gratitude for the Lord and for your spouse,
it begins with reading, studying, meditating, memorizing God's word.
This rings true for my own life and marriage. I found that the more I am regularly
intaking and digesting God's word, the more I am content and satisfied with the life
and the wife God has given me. And on the inverse, the more I am disconnected and
withdraw from the word of God, the more apt I am to become discontent with my life
and my wife. For the sake of our marriages, we need to let the Word of Christ
dwell in us richly,
which according to this text includes teaching and admonishment. Now again,
I know that this text is talking about the teaching and admonishing and the
immediate context of life in the body of Christ, the church. But allow me just to
demurge the two contexts of church and marriage here for a moment, okay? First of
all, are you and your spouse consistently sitting under the preaching of God's word
and the local church?
This is vitally important for your marriage. You guys both need a weekly tune -up
from the preaching of God's Word.
Second, and this more applies to Christian husbands, you guys are called to set the
tone and oversee the spiritual teaching and admonishment that takes place in the home
and in marriage.
Men, according to Ephesians 5, part of your role as a husband is to wash your wife
in the word, to sanctify her with it. Practically speaking,
there are a number of ways you can go about doing this. You can do this in a
very formal way through the practice of family worship, maybe you've heard about
that, family worship. Family worship is a great opportunity for you to spend time in
the word with not only your wife, but also your kids.
And maybe you're turned off by such a prospect, right? That maybe, husbands, you
thought that the teaching your kids and your wife, the Bible, is something that
freaks you out. Okay, what do I say? What do I do? But there are, if you want to
talk to me about this, this is, again, I'm the Associate Pastor for Student
Discipleship. This is something that I like to talk about a lot with parents, okay?
So if you want to talk to this about me, there are plenty of books that I would
recommend, strategies that would implement. But don't leave here thinking that family
worship is beyond you. Okay? Anybody can do this.
So there's the formal way of family worship, but there's also an informal way,
right? You can teach and admonish your wife, teach and admonish your kids in a very
informal way. Hannah and I try to begin each day in the Word, right? This is a
practice that we've always wanted to implement in our marriage. She does her quiet
time, I'll do mine, and she knows as she's reading the Bible, she can come to me
with all of her theological questions or questions about the Bible. And most of the
time, I am delighted to aid in her understanding of who God is and what his word
says. Most of the time. But if I'm honest, there are sometimes when I just want to
get through my quiet time uninterrupted. And in these moments where she's asking me
these questions, my answers tend to be more quick and even prideful.
But that's not the manner in which husbands are to teach and admonish. Look at the
text again. Notice the way in which we are called to teach and admonish.
Wisdom,
right? Wisdom is required in the process of teaching and admonishment.
Not just in the church, but in the home as well. Husbands, take my word for it.
Your wife will be more grateful for a husband who teaches them in wisdom than one
who teaches them in pride. Take my word for it. But gratitude also comes by the
way of the Word of Christ being sung. So we not only teach and admonish,
but we sing the Word of Christ, and this results into deeper gratitude.
Do we see that, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in
your hearts to God?
Try singing a theologically rich and lyrically driven worship song and not be
thankful. Go ahead. I dare you. If the gospel is true to you,
how can you not be thankful when you sing something like this? Change from glory
into glory. Till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise. How are you not thankful for that if you sing
it? Right? And I'll just add, thanksgiving in marriage only ever increases when you
sing praises together as a couple. Now,
Hannah knows that I can't sing worth a lick, right? But whether we're in the car
or at church, we still enjoy singing Psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs together. I'll also add that nothing cheers my heart more to
hear my wife sing praises to God when we've walked through what we've walked
through.
To know that the Word of Christ is dwelling in her richly like that,
even in the midst of much suffering, is indeed a reason to be grateful.
But gratitude also comes about by doing everything in the name of Christ. Do we see
that? And whatever you do, verse 17, whatever you do in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through Jesus Christ. So doing things for the glory and fame of Christ should
produce such an overwhelming gratitude in our lives. When we begin to see ourselves
as ones who bear the name of Christ and all that we say or do,
it's a purpose that we're thankful for,
that God would decide to use us.
is by the grace and faithfulness of God.
And specifically, for Christian marriages, it is the name of Christ that should keep
our marriages together. Because fundamentally, it is our marriages that bring glory
and honor to the name of Christ. There are very few things that can bring glory
and honor to the name of Christ, then when a husband actively loves and pursues his
wife as Christ would the church?
Or there's nothing that quite so uniquely brings honor and glory to Christ when a
wife lovingly and respectfully submits to her husband as the church submits to
Christ. Again, when the husband and wife are living to visibly display the gospel
message in their marriage, Christ's name is being glorified.
You're doing things in the name of Christ when you seek to visibly manifest the
gospel among you.
Single people, again, I don't want to leave you out of this. Don't hear me say
that you cannot do things for the name of Christ. Whether you're married or not,
we're all still called to do what the text is saying. I'm simply making the case
that marriage, when exercised as the Bible prescribes, brings glory and honor to the
name of Christ in a unique and specific way.
But this begs the question for you who are single, even students in the room, those
of you who have a desire to be married someday, why do you want to get married?
What's your motivation?
Right? Is it for your own happiness or satisfaction?
Is it so that you won't be lonely anymore?
These aren't bad reasons for getting married, but they can't be the only reasons.
Look, people get married for the wrong reasons all the time, and that's why we see
such a high and ever -increasing divorce rate. But we must remember that marriage is
designed for our good and for God's glory. Marriage was given to us so that we can
further honor and glorify the name of Christ.
And when we do this, when we seek to honor and glorify Jesus in our marriages,
we will be grateful to God and thankful for our spouse.
When we live with the same mission, the same motivation in our marriage,
that should produce such a gratitude in us, a thankfulness that God can produce.
Martin Lloyd -Jones says this, if a husband and a wife are together considering him,
you need have no worry about their relationship to each other. That's a bold
statement.
Our human relationships and affections and loves are cemented by our common love to
him. If both are living to him and his glory and his praise,
if both have got the uppermost in their minds, the analogy of Christ and the church
and what he has done for the church, that she might be redeemed and that they as
individuals might become children of God, if they are overwhelmed by that thought and
governed by it, there will be no danger of their personal relationship meeting with
disaster.
Again, that's a bold statement. We encounter dangers daily as married people.
We have a singular unified vision for our marriage and that we want to glorify and
honor and do everything in the name of Christ. This brings about great Thanksgiving
and joy and gratitude.
If I can just sum up, remember, to put on love is to put on Christ.
He is how you can have a loving and lasting marriage.
And your loving marriage will be marked by both peace, as it is the antithesis of
strife and quarrels, and it will be marked by gratitude.
By Thanksgiving.
Gratitude results in having the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly.
for your name, to bring glory and honor to the name of Christ should be our life's
one great ambition. But, Father, if we're honest, there are many things competing for
our affections, our desires, our ambitions.
Father, I pray that we would lay those down in light of your glory, in light of
who you are,
realizing that they're nothing, their husk, their ashes in comparison to the
perfection that is your love. God, you are beautiful and holy and mighty and I pray
that we would just continue to follow you and serve you in all that we do and
say. In Jesus' name, amen.