King Solomon, with all his wisdom, had this to say:
“Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
I read this passage as an encouraging reminder of how great
marriage is. God created marriage to be
an amazing cooperation of two people working together, helping each other,
comforting each other, protecting each other, and finding strength together as
a unit. Marriage is a good thing. It’s us who often turn it into something complicated,
frustrating, ugly, and painful.
I spent a lot of time in the previous sections talking about Satan’s
agenda to wreck marriages. But here’s
the great news: “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand
him. And a threefold cord is not quickly
broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Hopefully I’ve
made it clear by now that you and your spouse can avoid ever resorting to divorce by fortifying your marriage – banding
together as a couple, putting each other first and forsaking all others, and
refusing to indulge in destructive arguments and insults.
But notice that it also says, “And a threefold cord is not quickly
broken.” The threefold cord that I
picture in my head is basically a braid made up of three strands. One strand on its own is thin and pretty
weak. If you wrap one strand around
another, it’s a little thicker and stronger, but when you take three strands
and interweave them to create a braid, you’ve got a cord that is pretty sturdy
and difficult to break. If you think of
you and your spouse as two of those folds or strands, the third fold in the
cord that makes it even stronger and resistant to breakage refers to God. In other words, the couple who wraps their
marriage around God, following His design for marriage, has the strongest
marriage and the best components for success.
No marriage is perfect, no man is the perfect husband, and no
woman is the perfect wife. But if we
submit ourselves and our marriages in humility to God and His instructions for
living, His grace covers our shortcomings: “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but
gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore
submit to God. Resist the devil and he
will flee from you.” (James 4:6-7; emphasis added).
Don’t be so proud that you refuse to put your marriage and your
spouse first. Be humble enough to
sacrifice what you want for the good of the marriage. Be humble enough to ask God for His help and
wisdom. Be humble enough to apologize
and reconcile when necessary, even if it means having to make the first move. Don’t be so proud that you’re unwilling to
forgive. Remember that Christ has forgiven you.
“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love
will cover a multitude of sins.’” (1 Peter 4:8)
No comments:
Post a Comment