Perhaps you have heard the story of an out of town salesman who went into a restaurant to order breakfast. He said to the waitress, “Bring me two eggs so hard the edges are black, two slices of burned toast, and a cup of coffee so strong and black that it would throw the spoon out of the cup. Then, sit down and nag me because I’m homesick!”
The story, of course, is fictitious, but it accurately describes the kind of atmosphere going on in multitudes of marriages in America today. What started out as wedlock little by little degenerated into a deadlock. Sadly, what was intended as “a colony of heaven” became “hell on earth.”
When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the idyllic Garden of Eden and united them in marriage, it was not just for the propagation of the human race, or for convenience sake. He intended marriage to be the primary dwelling place for happiness and well-being. He said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will create for him a helpmate” (Genesis 2:18). His plan was that marriage be a duet, not a solo.
The greatest thing any mother can do for her children is to love and honor their father. The greatest thing a father can do for his children is to love and honor their mother. The counsel for a wife to “submit to her husband” does not mean “to be “the slave of.” Husbands are to “love their wives as Christ loved the church” (Ephesians 5:25) – i.e., he is already submitted to her. Neither the husband nor the wife has ascendancy over the other. God designed marriage to be a shared partnership, each fulfilling his or her role. And children are to “obey their parents in all things for this is well-pleasing to the Lord” (Colossians 3:20).
The Bible teaches that when a man and a woman are joined in marriage they have become “one flesh” – one in body, one in mind, and one in spirit. A healthy marriage will involve a satisfactory physical union – the sexual relationship. A happy marriage will become one psychologically – have a similar outlook, compatible lifestyles and attitude toward life, the same goals. A holy marriage is one in which two persons are spiritually united with Jesus Christ at the center.
Husbands and wives who demonstrate that God comes first in their home – ahead of in-laws, ahead of pleasure, and ahead of everything else – will avoid senseless battles. God designed marriage to last – not until you differ on something, not until moonlight and roses becomes daylight and diapers – but “until death.” The same God who requires pre-marital chastity requires post-marital fidelity
God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman for life. But those who have had unhappy and unhealthy marriages cannot go back. You cannot unscramble eggs. Whatever has happened in the past, you can rededicate yourself anew in the here and now to God and ask for His leadership upon your life and your home. God forgives any and all past failures and sin (see I John 1:9).
What do you have in the house where you live, WEDLOCK or DEADLOCK? The answer depends on whether Christ is at the center of what happens there. You cannot have Christ in your home if you do not have Him in your heart. A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams. But the most essential element in any home is God. If He is not there, wedlock can become deadlock.
The Paper Pulpit 
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