A Happy Marriage: Is That Possible?
by, Keith Luke
Years ago a family friend groaned, “I wish marriage licenses expired like drivers licenses.” That may express the sentiment of many couples today who wonder if it’s possible to have a happy marriage. But the Scriptures give us real hope for happy marriages.
(Proverbs 18:22NIV) “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.” The Scriptures teach us that for a marriage to be happy, God must be included from beginning to end. God’s work in the beginning is to bring two believers together. In the book of Ruth, Boaz and Ruth were from different backgrounds but loved the Lord very much. For two Christians to get married, they must believe that God is bringing them together for life.
(2 Corinthians 6:14NIV) “14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers…” Paul was saying that believers must not marry unbelievers. The greatest heartache for a believer is to have an unbelieving spouse. The first and most important criteria for a Christian to consider in selecting a marriage partner is the other person’s relationship with God. If that person is not a Christian, walk away. Save yourself a lifetime of heartache.
This principle also includes the marriage of two believers on opposite ends of the faith spectrum. Some Christians are saved, excited about what God is doing, and passionate about serving God, while others are just saved, satisfied, and don’t want to be bothered by God. You can’t keep some down, while it would take a keg of dynamite to raise others up.
God has a plan for you. A happy marriage will take place when you have a mate that you are confident God has brought into your life. If God does not lead you to your mate, you are out of His perfect will.
As Ruth and Boaz sought the guidance of God, He brought them together and blessed them. God blessed Ruth with a much needed husband and Boaz with a companion for life. (Proverbs 31:10NIV) A “wife of noble character…is worth far more than rubies.”
Not only were they blessed with a believing spouse, Ruth and Boaz were rewarded with a son (Ruth 4:13). “Children are a gift from the Lord…a reward from him” (Psalm 127:3NLT).
A marriage is happy when children are considered a gift from God. No one knows how precious they are more than those who are unable to have them. To those couples I say, God has a plan for you. It isn’t the same plan He has for someone else. Happy is the couple who is content with how God chooses to bless them. Trust Him!
And happiness should continue as we grow older. Many couples spend their entire married lives living for the children. And when the nest becomes empty, they find themselves living with a stranger. But it doesn’t have to be that way. One of the keys to happiness in the latter years of marriage is to spend the earlier years putting the marriage first—keeping the home fires burning.
HUSBANDS, acquiring a mate doesn’t mean you can quit romancing the one you love. You must continue trying to win her heart.
WIVES, he’s YOUR man. Make sure he knows it, because there WILL be women out there who will let him know he’s special.
The empty nest doesn’t have to be a syndrome; it can be an exciting adventure. And it will be, if you make each moment count. Don’t say, “When the kids get gone we’ll do such-and-such.” Chances are you’ll never get around to it.
Ruth expressed her conviction like this: “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God” (1:16NIV). Learn to walk with God individually and together while you are young, and it will make your life happier when you are old.
