Mark's Advice for
Newlyweds
"Two are better
than one; because
they have a good
reward for their
labor. For if they
fall, the one will
lift up his
fellow. But woe to
him that is alone
when he falls; and
there is not
another to help
him up. Also, if
two lie together,
then they have
warmth; but how
can one be warm
alone? And if one
prevail against
him, two shall
withstand him; and
a threefold cord
is not quickly
broken. Two are
better together if
they lift one
another up when
they fall. But if
they do not help
each other, but
pick at each other
instead of lifting
each other up,
then their lives
will be bitter.
Ecclesiastes
4:9-12
Even better than a
marriage of two is
a marriage of
three. A marriage
in today's world
will be constantly
under attack by
the media and the
so-called norms of
society. Don't be
deceived by false
views of marriage,
romance, manhood,
or womanhood as
presented by
Playboy, HBO,
movies, the New
York Times op-ed
page, or radical
feminism. When
your marriage is
under attack, it
needs to hold
together like a
rope made of three
strands braided
together.
The third strand
is Jesus. When
Jesus remains an
integral part of
your marriage, it
cannot fail.
The only way for a
marriage to work
is if the husband
lives to serve his
wife and if the
wife lives to
serve her husband.
Ephesians 5 is the
"marriage
submission
passage" we all
love to hate. In
most basic terms,
the scripture
simply means that
the wife should
love and serve her
husband the same
way the church
loves and serves
Jesus, and the
husband should
love and serve his
wife the same way
Jesus loves and
serves the church.
There is no
difference. Jesus
gave everything,
his very life, to
save the world. In
response, the
faithful give
everything to
serve Jesus. In
the same way, the
husband and wife
must give up
everything in
order for their
marriage to work
over the long run.
Mark Brautigam
http://www.mixed-up.com/markb/
http://www.mixed-up.com/markb/notebook/20050919c/
All
rights reserved.
Reproduced with
permission of
author
