HONOR IN MARRIAGE. Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is not a joke. It is honorable. God has honored it by identifying it as a type of His relationship with His people, the church. Suggestions of immorality and stories with sexual humor are not pure. Children are watching the models all the time. A sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, but don’t think God overlooks such things. He may keep silence, but He will judge that which is most hateful in His eyes [2Pe.2:10]. Purity in marriage must be maintained with conviction and sensitivity.
The principle of honoring one's spouse, by recognizing the depth of the covenant of marriage from a biblical view, gives strength to the practice of an undefiled marriage. Faithfulness begins in the mind. Prayer for our loved one establishes a spiritual context for marriage. Deliberate words of encouragement and praise give meaning to the commitment that marriage demands. The third cord in a Christian marriage that tends to strengthen is God Himself. He is involved in marriage, and He will judge that which is evil.
Giving honor in the true sense requires conviction, sensitivity, and honesty. In Christian marriage, we demonstrate the depth of God’s love when we honor our spouse and love our wife as “Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.” To keep a biblical marriage (a consenting union between a man and a woman) strong, each must remain faithful in body and mind to the other, pray for each other, resist pressure to act independently, and resist anything that would create discontent.
Sexual relationships are honorable within the bonds of marriage. “The bed” is a figure of speech that refers to the physical intimacy of a husband and wife. Fornicators are those who engage in illegal sexual access to another person’s body. Adulterers are married people who are unfaithful to their spouse. Marriage has a sacred character because it was instituted and ordained by God to be the means by which humanity would multiply and be caretakers of the earth. When that sacredness is maintained, felt, and enjoyed, there will be purity in marriage.
Christianity has raised marriage from the perversions of idolatry and godless society, making it the center of a home that gathers around it, guards, defends, instructs, and passes on to the next generation the principles and practices that make humanity flourish. Modern society has undermined the moral characteristics that marriage demonstrates by allowing easy divorce, sexual immorality, and perversions that defile human minds and the social structure of nations.
For those who have come to the “city of the Living God,” holy love keeps it pure. What seems like restrictions too hard to bear to those outside “the city” is the joy, satisfaction, and fullness of faith found in the new nature given to citizens of heaven. Love, the spirit, and the actions of love rise far higher than unbelievers can imagine, let alone experience. In Mt. Zion, joy and strength are perfected in love, rather than in strain, effort, and failure.
He watches his wife with love as she goes about her daily tasks. Later, she sits with her husband and listens to what he has to say. They see in each other acceptance and a purity that comes from each heart. The love in this marriage is deeper and greater than it was at the start. Contentment is a choice that money and fame cannot buy. When we view it simply as a means, not as a master we rely on, we can appreciate all that God gives us. Our contentment is not in all we possess. The promises of God fill our lives, and as contented stewards, we can confess our faith.