Protecting Your Marriage

Insurance...we all have it. We insure our cars, our houses, and even our health. Yet we often don't take the time to insure one of our most valuable commodities. Our marriage. The truth is that there is an urgent need to take up arms and secure ourselves against the enemy who is trying any way he can to make us stumble and fall. One of the areas he loves to attack is marriage. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” 1 Peter 5:8

I think that the first step to protecting marriage is to invite Christ to be the center of your union. When this relationship is given over to Him and decisions are made based on His will, it builds a strong foundation for the marriage to stand on.

Secondly, we need to guard our marriages. This means being careful about what you take in with your eyes. Temptation is everywhere these days and it is so easy to fall into the mindset that "just a little bit" is okay. That is a lie that Satan wants you to believe so that he can lead you into deeper areas of temptation and sin. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)

It also means protecting your special relationship with your spouse by not trying to recreate it with another person. When we begin to share intimate details about ourselves and our marriage with a person of the opposite sex we are sharing a piece of ourselves that is only intended for our spouse. This can lead to an emotional affair which is often just as damaging as a physical affair. Another important aspect of guarding our marriage is through regular intimacy with our spouse. I have talked about this subject several times before, but I think it is worth repeating. God has created us to be intimate with our spouses. Men especially are designed to be sexual beings and one of the best ways to protect them from the temptations that bombard them daily is to make sex a regular and important part of your marriage.

Finally, stick to your commitment. Do not let divorce have a place in your vocabulary. Sadly so many people enter marriage with divorce as a back up plan. That day that you stood before your friends and family to take your vows you also stood before God and promised to love and honor "until death do you part." Too often people have translated that last part to be "until things get rough" or "until it doesn't feel good anymore." The truth is that it isn't always going to be easy and it isn't always going to feel like it did in the beginning. The true test is working through those low points. This is done through prayer, through counsel from other Christian couples who are further in their marriage and their walk with God, and choosing to do your part. The turning point for me in our marriage was realizing that it wasn't all about what he could do for me. When we both focused on meeting the other persons needs we found that we were both getting what we wanted and were happier for it. That's the way it is intended to be!

Let me close by urging you all to invest in insurance for your marriage. The cost is hard work and diligence now but the payoff is priceless in the end.