Marriage…What’s it Really For?

Wow! I have always taken my marriage to my husband very seriously. It’s a precious gift from God that I don’t want shattered, broken, or taken for granted. Every day, I pray for God to strengthen the marriage bond between my husband and I – and that we also grow closer to Christ, and that we never leave him nor forsake him.

After listening to John Piper, I realized even more how important my marriage really is. Not just to my husband and I but also to Christ because the marriage is to glorify HIM and not just US as a couple! This is something that I have never been taught before by any church. Thank you for sharing this wonderful information!

BTW, this is off topic, but thank you for the recommendations on the two books about modesty. I will research them in the near future.

Love it!!

Like you, I admire John Piper as a man of God who teaches the whole counsel of God boldly and plainly. I had not seen these excerpts and thank you for them.

I have just recently “bumped into” your blog so don’t know what discussions have gone on previously. In the context of Christian marriage I have a few comments to share with you and your readers.

There are many, many Christian women who are married to men who profess to be followers of Christ but who do not live it out, in any part of their lives let alone in their marriage. (I know – the same is true in reverse: Christian men married to women whose “Christian” walk looks mighty feeble. But I am speaking from my personal perspective as a woman.)

This was the case in my marriage for many years. God, in His grace and by His mercy through Christ, has changed not only my husband’s heart but mine as well; He has redeemed what looked to be a hopeless situation and today I can honestly say I admire and respect the man to whom my Lord gave me.

What I want to say is this: Each one of us – whether the husband or the wife – is responsible for our own obedience to God; following Piper’s teaching, each one of us is responsible for our own faithfulness to the covenant we made on our wedding day.

If my husband does not love me as Christ loves the church, that does not absolve me of loving him as God commands me to. It sure makes it very, very difficult – but I am nevertheless called to be a godly wife to him regardless of whether my husband loves me sacrificially, or at all.

I am responsible to God for my part. My husband’s part is between him and God.

For women in a situation such as this, it seems impossible to be obedient to our Savior and Lord. (I know: I left 4 times. But the Lord kept drawing me back until I finally understood that this marriage was where He wanted me for His purposes, and that my trying to escape was itself sinful.)

Scripture is true: with Him nothing is impossible.

I just want to encourage any of you who are faced with this kind of struggle (or who know someone who is): Don’t give up! Pray without ceasing!

Pray that the Lord change your heart; that He show you your sin and your contribution to the misery you are suffering. Pray that He give you eyes to see your husband as He sees him, and that He give you the will to love your husband as He would have you love him.

Lean heavily and completely on Jesus! God will honor your love for Him as demonstrated in your devotion to your marriage.

He may bless you with a “new” husband, or he may require that you continue to suffer. In either case, He will honor your obedience. Be strong in Him, for the sake of Jesus’ name.

It really is all about Him and not about our own personal comfort.