A good marriage attracts God’s blessings

Dear reader, marriage was instituted for better living for mankind.  It is not to bring hurts or constitute a hindrance. If you want your home and marriage to exhibit a better living, God must be at the centre of your heart and home. You have to be open to His Words and follow His instructions. His Words, instructions or commandments are not grievous or burdensome (1 John 5:3).

It is an easy thing to do. God made man with a desire to please and follow His will (Scripture). The Lord Jesus came to make it easier for man to follow and obey the Word of God. Come, all that labour … for my burden is light and my yoke is easy (Matthew 11:28). Instead of seeking to do things your way, doing them God’s way will give you cheaply the results you desire.

Family life originated from God; hence, He must be the centre of your family life to enjoy a better living. Countless people are having a near death experience in their family lives. Some have had many wives and still are dissatisfied. Others are separated, while some live a cat and dog life, wishing that someone would deliver them from it. Despite all these, there are some who are enjoying family life and making a success of it. This is not just by luck. Success is not by luck, you programme yourself for the type of success you desire.

As a born-again child of God, enjoying a better family life is your birthright. It is God’s will and desire for you to enjoy an exciting marriage, an exciting home, life and family. Apart from making God the centre of your family, the next thing you must understand is that family life is meant for better living. It is meant for help, not hurt. The Bible says: I will make him a help (Genesis 2:18); Two are better than one (Ecclesiastes 4:9). One of the ways to enjoy this better living in marriage is to know your role, accept it and work diligently with it.

It is very important as a man or woman in marriage to accept your responsibility. Nothing works on its own.  You have to work out your marriage to make it a fulfilled one.

Husband:

Your primary responsibility is to love, care for and generally oversee the welfare of your family. A great burden is placed on the man to love his wife as Christ loves the Church, and he is not exempted from this responsibility, even if his wife is not submissive or is unsaved. This responsibility can be accomplished only through sacrifices, being a godly example, and through an unconditional devotion, commitment and dedication to his marriage.

It is very important for you to know that your wife is your chief concern, second only to God. As a man, you are the head of the household and you bear the responsibility for the entire family unit. Your leadership position as head of the union places a great responsibility on you to protect, care for, and seek the general well-being of your family spiritually, physically, and emotionally. This must be seen in action and not in mere words. You can tell your wife all day long that you love her, but until you show her that love, your words will do little to strengthen your relationship.

As a husband, you need to encourage the spiritual development of your family, as Christ encouraged the spiritual development of His disciples.  You must be prepared to lay down your life for your wife and every member of your family if necessary.  This includes giving up selfish hobbies and past times which take you away from family unit or drain needed resources from the family budget.  For the spiritual development of the family, it is also required that as a husband, you lead your household in the study of God’s Word and in regular family devotions.  You are to take the lead particularly by example, in the worship of God.  In addition, you cannot direct the affairs of your family without first having daily fellowship with the Lord in prayers and the study of the Bible.

Another fundamental responsibility of the husband is to honour his wife (I Peter 3:7).  This, perhaps, is even a higher level of responsibility than just providing for her physical needs. Respect, they say, is reciprocal.  If a man must enjoy respect from his wife, then he must be willing first to invest in it.  He must respect, admire, appreciate, praise and exalt her.

Wife:

The woman’s primary responsibility, after the Lord, is to her husband and her children.  The woman received the title of “help meet” in Genesis 2, which clearly established her role in the family as one of a support to her husband.  The Bible specifically demands of the woman, submission in all things.  A man of wisdom, David Lipscomb, wrote, “The submission of the wife to the husband is that of love, respect and reverence, which is befitting the relation she holds to her husband.  In her sphere she is spiritually on equality with man, but as a husband, he is the natural scripturally recognized head and leader of the family.  Her submission must be in accordance with the principles of righteousness, and nothing is required of her inconsistent with Christian character”.

The idea of submission is a stumbling block to many women, because they equate submission with inferiority.  Men and women are created co-equal by God, but for the purpose of His plan of redemption, God has assigned to each of them differing roles to carry out.  God has clearly called the wife to submit to her own husband.  That is God’s design ordained for her blessings.  The Word of God says: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing (Ephesians 5:22-24).

Just as the body submits to the brain located in the head by design, so the wife should submit to the husband who is the head. The manner of submission is as unto the Lord, and the motive is God’s design to make the husband the head of the wife.  When you see a body that does not respond to the head, you see a deformity, you see something that is not normal.  You see a dysfunctional person.  The same is true in a marriage.  Where a wife does not submit to her husband, there is distortion, deformity, and dysfunction.  God has designed that the body respond to the head, and the husband is the head of the wife.

Congratulations! If you prayed this simple prayer of faith with me, you are now born again and a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

With this, you are guaranteed all-round rest and peace in Jesus’ Name! Call or write to share your testimonies with me through [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building a Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).