Marriages are under attack. Marriages are of God and are very special to God so it’s no surprise that Satan attacks them. That’s how enemies operate. They know what you care about and they seek to destroy that. If we are going to enjoy the blessing of marriage as God intends, we must learn how to: forgive, love & pray.
We must know without wavering that we have an enemy that seeks to destroy us, our marriages and our families. Jesus himself told us:
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
– John 10:10
Satan aims to steal the blessings that God gives us.
When it comes to our marriages, there are certain things that we must do to protect them: Forgive, Love & Pray.
1. We must forgive.
You are not perfect and your spouse is not perfect. This equates to a lot of forgiving. A marriage cannot survive without forgiveness. Let’s not be surprised when our spouse says or does something that frustrates us- they’re human and they’re different than us.
Of course we’re human so we’ll get angry at times, but the key is not to stay angry. We should strive to get angry less often, with less intensity, and for less time. We must mature so that we’re not so easily offended, and when we do get angry we must keep in mind that we have an enemy that loves to attach himself to our anger:
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down up on your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.”
– Ephesians 4:26-27
Anger gives the devil an opportunity to operate within your marriage.
2. We must love.
When we have truly forgiven and dealt with our anger then we can love. Forgiveness frees us so we can love sincerely, genuinely, and affectionately. Our ability or inability to love allows us to gauge our forgiveness. Sometimes we say we have forgiven but we are unable to love. If we are unable to love then we haven’t truly forgiven, and I get it:
Forgiveness is a process.
It is, however, a process that we must go through completely and sincerely. We must remember that the love that we show our spouse is simply a reflection of the love that Christ has shown us:
“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us…”
– Ephesians 5:1-2a
We must also remember that love is more than simply saying I love you. Love is more than words:
“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
– I John 3:18
3. We must pray.
This is the good part. Now, we are humbling ourselves and trusting God to be God. We are taking our concerns, struggles, and requests to God and trusting Him to do what only He can do. Again, we are humbling ourselves. We aren’t just complaining and venting to God about our spouse because we know that He has work to do in us just as He has work to do in our spouse.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
– James 4:10-12
Ouch.
Once we forgive, sincerely love, and have humbled our own heart, then we are in a position to pray for change within our spouse. We know that we can’t change our spouse, but we trust God.
“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, ‘With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible.”
– Matthew 19:26
Marriage is a gift from God. Let’s rely on God’s leading to care for and maintain our marriages the way He sees fit, never forgetting that marriages are under attack.
Let’s do our part to protect our marriages by forgiving, loving & praying.
With love,
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