3 min read
Want to know what advice my husband heard most before we got married? “Enjoy your freedom while it lasts.” “Happy wife; happy life.”
According to popular culture, I was guaranteed to become the “old ball and chain” once the honeymoon was over. On the other hand, I was told that getting married before 26 was the same as kissing all of my hopes and dreams goodbye.
No matter which piece of advice we were given, one thing was made clear: marriage is a contract, and we were about to sign our lives away.
God Created Marriage For Us
Christians and non-Christians like to joke about marriage. Let’s be honest—it can be pretty funny! Adjusting to life with someone else means adjusting to compromise, and those adjustments can give us some good material. The question is, why do so many people see that compromise and tell newlyweds to expect the worst?
What would happen if engaged couples were showered with encouragement and celebration rather than misguided, semi-discouraging advice?
God made marriage to be life-giving, not a life-sentence.
Thankfully, God created this promise between two people, and He didn’t create it to weigh anyone down. God made marriage to be life-giving, not a life-sentence. It’s a gift!
How do we know God’s purpose for marriage? He gave us some great examples.
4 Couples in the Bible Who Win at Marriage
1. Abraham and Sarah
The Bible tells us that Abraham was a man of great faith (Genesis 12). When God called Abraham to leave his home and everything he knew without notice, Sarah followed him. Abraham trusted God, and Sarah followed her husband, trusting that God was using him for a greater purpose.
From that point on, the book of Genesis depicts this couple’s journey, and do you know what we find? They struggled - a lot!
No matter how much faith Abraham and Sarah had, they were only human, but God still used them to bring about an entire nation, regardless of their failures. Think your marriage is too dysfunctional to be used by God? Think again!
2. Mary and Joseph
Faith, courage, and love play big parts in this story (Matthew 1:18-25). Joseph could have easily rejected Mary after finding out that she was pregnant, but marrying her shows us that Joseph was in tune with the Holy Spirit, and that he obeyed God’s will.
On the other hand, Mary could have been seen as a “cheater” in society because of her pregnancy, and the consequence of such behavior at the time involved being stoned to death.
These two were in tune with God’s will, were obedient, and had faith that God put them together for a reason, regardless of circumstances. They faced obstacles together and made it through together. That’s what God intended.
3. Zechariah and Elizabeth
Zechariah and Elizabeth were faithful regardless of their circumstances (Luke 1). Although Elizabeth could not conceive a child, she and her husband loved the Lord and followed Him faithfully.
God saw the righteousness of this couple and used them in a huge way because of their obedience. In old age, Zechariah and Elizabeth finally conceived a child. That child would later be known as John the Baptist.
4. Priscilla and Aquila
These two names are always together in the Bible: you will never find Priscilla without Aquila, and vice versa. In Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy, Paul reminds us that this couple is faithful in doing the Lord’s work (Acts 18).
The Bible may not have tons of information on this couple, but they always operated as one unit, and God used them a great deal because of it.