Suzie Brock argues the case
Is marriage still a viable option in this day and age? Does anyone stay married anymore and if they do is it possible to remain 'in love' throughout the course of a lifetime?
Marriage today seems so under fire, like an old fortress beaten and weathered in the wars of life and for many that fortress looks way too unstable to enter into. Statistics on marriage are discouraging and depressing, yet millions continue to make the move each year into that old 'institution'.
Why? Because despite the grim reports and the tragic failures we have all witnessed, we still have a hope and belief that we could find that one soul-mate in the universe who will remain with us to the end of our days.
Marriage is still a great place to live. After all God invented it, God supports it and Gods heart is to bless it. If God is for you, who can be against you? Perhaps that's why so many marriages fail, they are missing that one great element of support, God. He (God) was the master architect of this institute. He alone knows the plan for its success, and is willing to give those plans to any who ask.
God is also the inventor of love, the energy source that keeps all marriages running. Following His example of love is the greatest plan for success that we have to keep our relationships together. After creating us and supplying for us all we would ever need on this earth, His greatest act of love towards us was the act of giving (believe it or not) the act of 'death'. As strange as it may sound, death is a key principle in all of life. The truth that something must die in order for something to grow. Unless a seed falls to the ground....
God is a God who shows His love towards us in the experience of death. He so loved us that when we became lost from Him, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross, paying the price in order to receive us back. Death to His most precious Son and total loss for Himself. A complete giving without any guarantee of a return, as He did after all leave the choice of receiving the gift completely up to us. The ultimate price of love, sacrifice and selflessness. Probably one of the most essential ingredients in a happy marriage is in fact selflessness.
In love there are never any guarantees. There may be contracts signed and promises made but we all know both can be broken.
An abandonment of your demands, dreams and wants, for the simple pleasure of giving to someone you deem as great or greater than yourself. And if you are very blessed, you will be on the receiving end of that same type of selflessness. When you choose to give your heart away you do just that. The Bible says that when a man and woman marry they become "one". That she belongs to him and he to her.
Everything in this world encourages us towards self gratification. Magazine articles and self-help sections brim with information on how you can become better, more beautiful and supposedly happier. It's true that loving yourself enables you to love others, but being in love with yourself is quite a different story. Making life 'all about you' can be a very lonely existence. There is no greater joy than sharing life's experiences with someone you love. A one hundred percent giving of self, not the fifty fifty proposition that we often see it as. The fear is always that if you give your all you may be left without anything. That may be true, but that's the risk and the death involved in love. Self-preservation has to die.
A friend once said that caution in love was the most fatal thing to true happiness. If that's true then perhaps the opposite is true. Abandonment to self and giving yourself away is the key to happiness. Actually the Bible backs that theory up over and over again. Find God and His love first and He will supply the love you need to enter into or improve your marriage relationship.
Marriage was meant to be one of the greatest experiences on this earth. A remedy to loneliness, the gift of a partner to walk beside you on the often unstable roads of life. The Bible says that two are better than one, for if one falls the other is there to lift him up.
Look to how you can be the 'lifter' and be blessed when you are 'lifted'. When you say 'I Do' you are also saying 'I Will'. Will to love.
The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
Bud,
I was reading this article and saw that you made a comment. I hope that someone has written you back - if not, here I go!
I believe that there is always hope, even if a situation seems hopeless... Believe me, I have been through my own ups and downs and even when you think, feel, believe God is not with you. He is watching. Relationships are difficult, but I truly believe that they can be healed if they have been broken.
You admit your wrongdoings to us - now admit your wrongdoings to her and to God. (If you cannot talk to her- perhaps write a letter to her as if she is going to read it - and perhaps,maybe one day she will!) I pray that she will forgive. If not, you must forgive yourself and allow God to forgive you.
Both of you are hurting. I see it and so does Jesus.
Please remember this.