Our society has devalued marriage to the extent that the percentage of people entering into a lifelong marriage with a person of the opposite sex has plummeted.
• People are waiting until later in life to marry.
• Some do not marry at all.
• Many enter into a marriage but fail to keep the commitment they make and the marriage ends in divorce.
• Many establish relationships that look something like marriage, but without making the commitment of marriage.
• Some even establish that kind of a relationship with a person of their same gender.
Let me tell you what marriage is: Marriage is the union of one man and one woman for a lifetime, in which the two individuals leave the families they grew up in, cleave to one another and become one in flesh and in spirit. It is the quintessential human relationship.
There is no other human relationship that can compare with the miraculous union that takes place between a man and a woman when they make and keep the commitment to be husband and wife.
And let me add to this definition of marriage the element of God’s grace: God may choose to grant to us that kind of marriage relationship at any point in our life, despite our previous disregard for the value of marriage, if we will repent and turn to Him, seeking His will in our lives.
No one has to say, “I’ve blown it. I can never have that kind of marriage.” On the contrary, God has given beautiful marriages to millions of believers whose lives were previously marred by the sin of immorality or by the trauma of divorce. I’ve seen it happen over and over and over again. And there are many in our church who could give personal testimony of this fact. God’s gift of marriage is not for perfect persons. Just like salvation, it is a grace of God that is given to us even though we don’t deserve it.
But, just like salvation, marriage is a precious gift from God that must be treasured, and you will never have it until you realize just how special it is, desire it with all your heart, and commit yourself to it totally.
