A Worldly Marriage Vs. A Godly Marriage

A WORLDLY marriage vs. a GODLY marriage

A marriage not rooted in the Word is at risk for failure

BROTHER RON BURNETT

The marriage bond between a man and woman is many things, however, if that bond is not rooted in the Word of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it is nothing. In fact, it is vain. See? There are two types of marriages. There is a worldly marriage and a Godly marriage. A worldly marriage is based on things like physical attraction, salary potential, family ties, opportunity, “worldly” love and whatever else the world says one should aspire to in a marriage. However, those things rarely provide a fruitful long-lasting marriage, especially in today’s society unless something important happens. They switch to a Godly marriage.

A Godly marriage is not just based on God but how God views his marriage to those whom he calls his. This is his church, the bride. Those who decide to marry must understand they should already be married to God if they consider themselves part of the church. They must recall the covenant to which God holds them. What is that covenant based on? It is based on the commandments found in Exodus 20:3-17. There, God shows us exactly how we are supposed to love him and how we are supposed to love one another.

Therefore, when a couple decides to marry, the husband and wife should apply these commands to how they treat one another. It becomes much simpler when a man says to himself, “As long as I keep the commandments of God, I will never have to worry about disappointing or hurting my wife. However, if I step outside of the bounds of his commandments, I could be stepping outside the bounds of my marriage with God and my wife because I am married to him first and then her.”

Therefore, the real key is to do what King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:13—Fear God and Keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. The same holds true for couples to do their very best to live by the fruits of the spirit as outlined in Galatians 5:22-26.

If a couple commits to living by the commandments of God and the fruits of the spirit, they will have a better chance at a long and fruitful marriage as opposed to couples who have worldly marriages. Many people think because they stood up and were married by a preacher, they had a Godly wedding. That is not automatically true because many people forget just a few short years later what the preacher might have said to them during that ceremony.

Why is that? Well, if they were not already in a covenant with God and keeping his commandments while exhibiting the fruits of the spirit, how can their marriage be considered Godly? The bottom line is if a husband and wife love God, they will keep his commandments. If they fear God, they will gain knowledge and understanding of his word.

As Psalm 103:8-11 says, the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

See? The way the Lord shows mercy on those who fear him and keep his commandments is the way a husband and wife should show same mercy and love to one another. He has set the model already! We simply need to follow it.