God's Lovely Gift Of Marriage

By Joy Knepp

November 1, 2009

Greetings, sisters in Christ!

My heart feels heavy to think that some of you may be experiencing difficulties in your marriages. It's only when we've traveled the valley ourselves that we can understand and sympathize with another. Sometimes we think ''there are no answers to MY problems''! But that is far from the truth. There are answers in the Bible to every problem we could possibly have. Sometimes, especially when we are yet babes in Christ.

1 Cor. 3:1-2 tells us that we need to go to someone we trust and ask them to help us find Biblical solutions. But be very careful when seeking advice. Make sure that it is from someone who has Christ-like love for both you and your husband and advises you with pure, undiluted, life-giving scripture. Sometimes well-meaning people have all kinds of solutions that actually sound very good, but we need to be very cautious and make sure it lines up with the Bible. It is ever so right to disregard advice that SOUNDS good but just isn't what God says.

God loves us so much, and He is the author of the idea of marriage. Just think of it, my friends, the excitement God must've felt when He thought about giving His beloved children (us) the lovely gift of marriage! It makes my heart skip a beat with joy that I may partake of this beautiful gift, and it makes a determination rise up within me to polish it and cherish it. How sad it must make God feel when His gift brings us misery instead of joy!

The ONLY way for our marriages to grow and bloom is if we do it God's way. Then we will be blessed beyond imagination! But don't think for a minute that we won't ever experience any problems if we do it God's way, because the devil likes nothing better then to wreck homes! He will try you from every side. The Bible says...

The thief (devil) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I (Jesus) am come that they (we) might have life, and that they (we) might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Don't expect the devil to play fair! And don't be afraid to punch him in the face with God's Words. Some days, when it seems he is everywhere, messing with every area of my life, I keep saying out loud ''Devil, get behind me, I am a child of God and you have NO place in my life!'' The biggest threat to him is when we RECOGNIZE him!

Another thing that we must practice faithfully is to let the Holy Spirit guide us. It breaks my heart how many years I proclaimed to be serving God, but wasn't heeding the Holy Spirit at all. The Bible says the Holy Spirit is One in Three (the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost), so when we quench the Spirit we have NO business pretending to serve God and accept Jesus' cleansing blood!

Quench not the Spirit. (1 Thess.5:19)

I am pretty sure when the Bible says not to do something, it means to not do that! Many times we have quenched the Spirit so long, that we no longer know HOW to let Him guide us. It definitely doesn't all change in one day, but God is SO forgiving, and SO ready to meet us right where we are if we fall on our faces before Him, and acknowledge that He is the ONLY way! His bag of patience and forgiveness never runs low, unlike mine, with my husband and my children!! Sometimes we need to be quiet and meditate on God's Word, searching for any nugget that might help us, in whatever situation we're in, and applying it, and soon we will feel the Spirit beginning to work again.

So the next time you feel cross at your husband, or feel you have the right to punish him, stop and take a deep breath, then think: what would Jesus do? Crucify your flesh, and then feel the wonderful feeling of the Holy Spirit guiding you and showing you what you can do, so that a year from now, this will be a memory of a growing experience, instead of one that will make you blush with shame.

Remember, no matter what your husband has done, this saying is still true: ''My response is my responsibility''. Sometimes, I tell my husband his actions are forcing me to be long-suffering!! (Gal. 5:22)

And don't forget, God's not finished with any of us yet; we are all imperfect, and we have all we can handle working on our own life. The Bible says:

''...Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.'' (Romans 12:19)

I pray that we would all apply Eph. 6:10-18.

Love you all, Joy.

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