The Marriage Game PlanSample

A LIFELONG PROMISE

One of God’s intentions for marriage was to establish a lifelong promise of love and commitment between a husband and a wife. Without this promise, nothing would separate marriage from any other serious adult relationship.

The sacred vows spoken at a wedding ceremony establish a covenant much like the covenant between Christ and His bride, the church. In Ephesians 5:31-32 NLT, Paul tells us, “As the Scriptures say, ‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.”

This great mystery that Paul is referring to is the comparison of the relationship between a husband and a wife to that of Christ and His church. Christ made the ultimate sacrifice so that He could prepare His bride to spend eternity together with Him. In the same way, husbands and wives establish a willingness to sacrifice for each other.

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her… Husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church… So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband (Ephesians 5:25, vv.28–29, v.33).

As couples, we try our best to mean our vows on our wedding day, however, these words sometimes come back to challenge us throughout the course of our marriage. Marriage is not easy, yet, we make a covenant to love and commit to each other through all seasons.

This is a critical puzzle piece of the complete image that God had in mind when He created marriage between a husband and a wife. We cannot have a successful marriage without an undying promise of love and commitment like Christ gives His church. Remembering the promises and covenants that we made on our wedding days can be a great way to refocus on what God originally had in mind when He created marriage.

What is one specific way you can show sacrificial love to your spouse this week?