Love & Marriage 68 - Commitment a christian perspective

I previously did a few posts on commitment and it we saw that there is more than one level of commitment to your spouse.

Today I want to look at this commitments from a Christian perspective.

• The Commitment to Oneness.
  Ephesians 5:31 . 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” A man and wife become truly one when they make love for the first time. That is a physical and emotional oneness.

They should also become one as a team, working together for the greater good of themselves and their marriage.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 "Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 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.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

• Commitment to positive communication
  The biggest part of communication is to really hear what your spouse is saying, to listen intently, to understand your spouse's feelings.
  James 1 19 ":So then,[a] my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.: James wrote this to the congregation but it definitely would relate to marriage also.
  We should speak encouraging words and words that build each other up.
  Ephesians 4:29 " Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers."
  We can get angry so quickly and then be unwilling to make amends. If we have a difference of opinion in our marriage let us deal with it quickly.
  Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, and do not sin”do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

• Commitment to Quality time
  In order to stay committed we need to spend quality time with each other. God wants us to spend time and enjoy each other and our marriages:
  Ecclesiastes 9:9 "Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun."

• Commitment to growth
  As Christians in holy matrimony,we should grow in our relationship to each other but also in our relationship with Christ. As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we will find it easier in our relationship with each other.
  In order to grow you should
• read the Bible together
• pray together
• go to church together and worship together.

*Commitment in Faithfulness
Proverbs 5:19 "Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be enraptured with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

The Bible is very serious about being faithful. It even take it further than the actual deed itself but also when you lust after other people, the Lord sees it as being adultery.
Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old,[c] ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[d] 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
1 Corinthians 1: 2 "Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband."

Being unfaithful will bring heartache and consequences.
Proverbs 6:32 "Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;
He who does so destroys his own soul."
David committed adultery with Bathsheba and he let her husband be killed. On account of that, the Lord let their child die as the consequence of their sin. It is that way with all sin we commit, God will forgive us, but it does not mean that it would not have bad consequences for us.
12:13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven your sin. You are not going to die. 12:14 Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.”

Because of adultery, the Bible permitted divorce.
Matthew 19: 8 "He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality,[d] and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

• Commitment to Honesty
  From day one you should not lie to your spouse or be dishonest. Once the trust is broken it is very hard to get it back. Unfaithfulness and honesty go hand in hand. If you are unfaithful it will lead to a web of lies.
  Leviticus 19:11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another."
  Proverbs 12:22 "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
  But those who deal truthfully are His delight."
  Colossians 3: 9 " Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,"

• Commitment to the long haul.
  The photo above is my parents in which I have the beautiful example of commitment to the long haul. We are back to the phrase in our marriage vows, "till death do us part" Although this is not a verse in the Bible we have enough evidence that God wants us to not divorce to stay together till in our old age.
  Matthew 19:6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
  Malachi 2:16(a) “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce,"

If we stay committed in all of the above commitments, commitment to the long haul would be easy. Also, I believe if we do all of the above we will have a happy marriage into old age and God will give us the strength to support and love one another.

Thank you for reading and may you be abundantly blessed with happy marriages.

@hope777 & @scotty777 (the husband and wife team)