The best way to start a successful marriage is making sure you’re both on the same page and entering this marriage covenant together with the same mindset. Marriage counseling plays an important role in laying the right foundation upon which you can build a life together. So, grab your finance and a cup of coffee, and as you continue reading this together, allow yourselves the freedom to think through and discuss what you’re learning or being asked to consider.
What Is Marriage?
Marriage is a beautiful union of two becoming one. Created and established by God, marriage is a lifelong commitment symbolic of Christ’s love for His Bride, the Church. Marriage is an exciting and life-changing step for anyone to take in their life. Before making this covenant promise with another person, one should always take time to understand the true origin and purpose in marriage. As designed by God, marriage is a public ceremony between one man and one woman, a picture of Christ’s love for His Bride the Church, a healthy environment for raising children, and leaves no thought for divorce as an option.
God’s Design for Marriage
Marriage was created and established by God with specific parameters to protect the sanctity of this covenant relationship. As described in God’s Word, marriage is the union of one man and one woman for the rest of their life. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’ . . . For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” The Lord specifically established marriage as a lifetime commitment between one man and one woman.
Cohabitation & Need for Public Ceremony
This uniting of two corresponding genders to become one should only take place after a public marriage ceremony. As quoted in Genesis 2:24 above, only at the time of marriage should a man leave his parents’ home and begin living with his new wife. Cohabitation or living together before marriage is not part of God’s plan. The man and the woman should live independent of each other until the day of their marriage ceremony. This covenant and public commitment to each other should be witnessed by family and friends, who can encourage the new couple and hold them accountable to their marriage vows the remainder of their life together.
Marriage Is Symbolic of Christ’s Love for the Church
God created marriage to symbolically represent Christ’s love for His Bride the Church. The Apostle Paul described this analogy in detail as he wrote to the churches in Corinth and Ephesus. “Heterosexual union in marriage expresses the same sort of holy, exclusive, permanent, complex, selfless and complementary intimacy that will some day characterize the union of Christ with the redeemed and glorified Church.”
A Healthy Environment for Children
Marriage between a man and a woman is the most healthy setting in which to raise children. “The biblical model of marriage reveals a husband and wife working together, complementing each other, to provide a stable, successful home in which children are equipped to fulfill their greatest potential.” Children raised in single parent home or by a homosexual couple are more prone to emotional problems, identity struggles, and possess a distorted view of marriage. Raising children in a home where marriage is built on God’s Word is the best and most healthy environment.
Divorce Is Not An Option
Divorce was not part of God’s plan. In Deuteronomy 24, Moses permitted the Israelites to divorce because of the hardness of their hearts and to protect the divorced wife. When the Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce, He reminded them of God’s original plan for marriage in Genesis 2, and explained “so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” A man and a woman should enter the marriage covenant committed to each other for life. Divorce is not an option in God’s design for marriage.
Concluding Affirmation
Marriage is a sacred covenant that should be taken very seriously by both man and woman. Before making this covenant promise with another person, both individuals should prayerfully consider the true origin and purpose in marriage. As designed by God, marriage is a public ceremony between one man and one woman, a picture of Christ’s love for His Bride the Church, a healthy environment for raising children, and leaves no thought for divorce as an option.
As you each select the "Next Steps" link below, each person seeking to be married agrees to the definition and intention as described above for marriage. Both individuals now make a commitment to attend marriage counseling and enter the marriage covenant as outlined in this explanation of marriage, but more importantly, as described in God’s Word.
Let's take the Next Steps toward marriage together!
