Someone Else Is Always Watching You
It is the wisest of husbands and wives who continue to love, and court each other over the entire term of their married life. Sadly, most newlyweds make the terrible mistake of coming back home after the honeymoon adventure trip is completed and then living out the old saying that goes: “Well the honeymoon is over,…it is time to get back to the old grind.” It sadly and inappropriately seems like the courtship, the romance, the new excitement of beginning and living a whole new phase of the bride and groom’s lives can only last for a week or two or maybe even a month. After that, it is business as usual…it’s the same old,…same old,…life. Boring…get up, go to work, come home, go to bed,…and repeat for the next forty plus years….Is it any wonder that half of the marriages don’t survive. Divorce is at an all time high in America today. It is estimated to be approximately 53%! That means about every other marriage doesn’t last.
God created the institution of holy matrimony between one man and one woman. He intended it to be a lifetime commitment.
Once a man and a woman commit to each other, before God and before man, that they will live their lives together, loyally and faithfully,… “…till death do they part,” then for the ensuing forty to seventy-five years they are to be soul-mates, they are to be husband and wife, they are to be keepers of their vows. Now that ensuing time frame beginning with the “I Do s” and then lasting for the rest of their lives, is precisely what God Almighty intended for the new couple who have been joined in marriage.
Please permit to say to you that if both the bride and the groom don’t know or understand the specific quality and integrity of their marriage commitment and the term of the marriage covenant,…then more likely than not, their marriage union will be short-lived.
Allow me to share with you just a few short scenarios concerning newlyweds and how their union came about. These short vignettes tell quite a sad testimony, however, they reflect more of the actual truth behind the joining in marriage of a man and a woman than do they tell an untruth.
“How did you happen to marry your wife?” a man was recently asked. “Oh, she was the sister of a friend of someone I went on a blind date with one time,” came the reply.
Obviously his destiny.
“Why did you marry your wife?” another man was asked. The response came fast and simple. “I was following a military parade down the street, and someone grabbed me and kissed me, and later I married her.”
A patriotic partnership, if nothing else.
A young lady was questioned, “Why did you marry?” Her reply was quick, “I couldn’t wait to get away from home. My parents were unbearable. I married the first man I dated.”
Wonder if he knew that.
A recent statistic tells us that in America, only 36% of 18-29 year olds believe it is very important to be married.
The list of reasons for choosing a mate and getting married is long, varied, and all too often very sad. Much too frequently the marriage commitment is deeply flawed and it usually stems from some negative or foolish event, activity, personal behavior, or immoral action taken or experienced in the past,…before the wedding ceremony. These flaws, discovered only after the wedding vows have been given and received lead to tragedy and heart break after the honeymoon is over and there are no longer any “secrets” between the partners.
The best and most specific purpose for choosing a life-mate as a marriage partner had better be completely known and clearly identified in both of the minds of the partners before the wedding ceremony occurs, if the couple actually plans to stay married for the rest of their lives on this earth.
Again I ask,…Is it any wonder why half of the marriages in America today don’t last? Either the husbands or wives do not really believe that their partners were God’s perfect choices for them, or they harbor a grudge for some wrong their partners did to them long ago.
Let’s be clear about this subject. Marriage between a man and a woman can be the closest thing to a heaven or a hell that many will ever find on this earth. For it to lean towards a heaven on earth all three “legs” of the three-legged milking stool must be in place and making significant contributions from both the husband and the wife.
For any interpersonal relationship to ever flourish and grow, all three parts of this three-sided human bond must be in place and operating efficiently and on a daily basis:
Part 1 is Physical.
Part 2 is Emotional,…and
Part 3 is Spiritual.
Indeed for a personal relationship to become what God intended it to be, all three attributes must exist simultaneously.
Most marital relationships today (at least half of them) are primarily developed and nurtured from a Physical only perspective. Our society emphasizes the physical side of life far too much. Physical attraction of a man and a woman definitely leads off the relationship, but very quickly after the parties involved have “surveyed” the grounds so-to-speak, there needs to be more. At this point the emotional part of the relationship must come into play. Joy and happiness whenever shared, double in size, impact, and effect. When a couple shares those intimate private joys, sorrows, and excitements there comes a mysterious bonding agent into their personal relationship. But, still there needs to be more. The final part, the spiritual part, is what makes the difference between long term success or failure of this relationship.
God intended man and woman to be together. He commanded them after He created them to “be fruitful and multiply and take dominion over all the earth.” God wanted man and woman to be the conduit for the creation and perpetuation of the family unit. This family unit is the basic building block of every society and culture that exists or ever has existed worldwide. Without the stability of a good and godly family unit, all society and its culture will self destruct. World history proves that last statement to be completely true.
So, for a marriage to be strong, productive, and fruitful, the partners to this matrimonial union need to be physically desirable and attractive to and for each other, which further grows into an emotional part of their togetherness to the point where they can laugh and cry together, and they can rejoice and grieve together. Finally, this personal relationship must be engulfed in a Spiritual part which permits these two marriage partners to pray together, sing together, praise God together and be thankful and grateful for all the He has given them.
When all three sides to this most important personal relationship exist between a man and a woman and are active,…then,…just like the three legged milk stool of yesteryear, it can and will be used properly and effectively to assist in the good and profitable production and stability of continued growth and productivity on into the future and into the generations of the future.
Remember the vows you gave and received…“For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse,…until death do us part.” That is a long time. For it to last, the personal relationship must be strong and kept growing stronger, and that takes a lot of hard work, forgiveness, and patience on both partner’s sides.
Have a Great Forever……………….