Remember thIn a healthy marriage, oneness is expressed in emotional, spiritual, and sexual intimacy that allows a couple to enjoy a little taste of what Adam and Eve

enjoyed prior to the fall. The bills, the kids, the struggles, and all the other “stuff” of life don’t seem to matter so much when lovers shut out the world and focus on their private celebration of love. A fragrance of heaven is in the air.

A marriage in which both partners are mutually stimulating each other to love and good deeds is a relationship that is passionate, inviting, and a testimony to the existence of God in this world. Not only does it give a taste of the Garden of Eden to the couple, it also provides a glimpse of heaven to those who see the life and love of Christ lived out through them.

First, though, we must have our own assurance of a relationship with Him. Nothing is more destructive in a marriage than when partners try to find in each other the love, forgiveness, and fulfillment that can be found only in God.

Please don’t miss the personal implications. If you know that you have failed to live up to the love of God but have no assurance that God has forgiven you, there is hope. Christ is the source of life that you need. Once you discover that He died in your place for your sins and rose from the dead to prove it, what remains is for you to personally trust Him as your Savior (Jn. 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9). With His life in you, you will have the spiritual life and sustaining relationship necessary to grow in the love and respect required to build a vibrant marriage.

The sustaining love of God frees a husband and wife to truly become one in Christ. And in that kind of a loving marriage, both man and woman can more fully reflect His likeness together than either could do alone. Joyful fulfillment in marriage comes through a sense of completion with a companion who has become your closest friend and ally in fulfilling your calling to glorify God together. And that is what God intended marriage to be.




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