The Defense of Marriage

1 Peter 5:8 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

I have always liked to label myself as a passionate person. Thankfully my passions have changed from soccer and boys while in high school, to now building a strong marriage and raising my children with grace.

Something that has been on my heart for a long time is marriage. Statistics show that a large percentage of low-income families are also single-parent families. The devil would like nothing better than to ruin our country and our world by destroying the family unit.

People, we need to WAKE UP! We have a very active enemy prowling around looking for someone to devour. We have a large local church who just let go one of their pastors because he was committing adultery with his female assistant. How does this happen? How do two Christian people fall into this?

I heard a sermon preached by Matt Chandler in which he stated something along the lines of: "Do you know how I know my wife is "the one"? Because I married her!!! Could I be happy with someone else? Probably. But I married my wife!"

So here's the thing; I think sometimes people become complacent. Maybe their marriage is "fine" but there is something that the other spouse does that irritates them. So, without trying it, they start looking at other individuals who don't have that annoying flaw. And somehow, they are no longer "alert" or "self-controlled". 

We need to be vigilant defenders of our marriages. We need to appreciate our spouse, show them our love and respect in various ways. If you know your husband loves a hot meal when he gets home but you never make one for him, you are not loving him the way that he wants to be loved. If a husband knows that his wife likes to talk to him in the evenings before bed but he never listens or reciprocates conversation, he is not loving his wife.

I think the very basic reason for marriages failing is because people are selfish. When a husband and a wife can become as selfless as possible, their marriage will succeed.

A few months ago I had a conversation with someone who was going through their second divorce. When she asked how long I had been married and I told her "seven years" she was surprised and asked, "How do you do it?" but didn't wait for an answer. She continued on to say that she must have "the family curse" because almost everyone in the family was divorced more than once.

Friends, we MUST be intentional in making our marriages succeed. They do not have to fail! Think how hard you tried to please your spouse when you were dating. I want to encourage you all to do one thing today to intentionally please your spouse.

I think I could underline every word in the 1 Peter 5:8 passage,  
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

The imagery in this Scripture is awful. The devil, in the form of a roaring lion, prowling, searching, looking for those who are not alert, waiting to devour them!! 

I hope all my friends will be intentional today to show love and respect for their spouse.