Marriage has become many things. People spend their lives together, having kids, buying a house, raising a family, etc. Marriage, however, is simply about relationships. It starts this way in Genesis 1:26. “Let us make man in our image” and it continues this way in Ephesians 5:22-33. The creation of mankind, the development of male and female to be husband and wife is based on how God the Father, God and Son, and God the Holy Spirit function. Man is developed from “our image”. It is when the relationship between the husband and wife is strong that the relationships between the children are also strong.
Relationships are like knitting a blanket. It is an integrated process that takes time and forms one picture, called family or friendships. Its core is trust and love and true love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). This is because the person who established it is at the core of it, God. God states that He is love and that love comes from Him (1 John 4:7-8). For anyone to have a long-lasting relationship God must be the center of what they do. When God is the center of what they do His love is perfected in them (1 John 2:3-6). To have a relationship without God is for two people to try to get along based on their understanding, and their strength. This is impossible because the very nature of the flesh is that it is weak and all that comes out of it leads to dissension and strife (Galatians 5:16-21).
Relationships require people to provide each other with mutual respect. Paul puts it this way; “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-5).
Relationships experience unity when each person is committed to submitting to the will of God, seeks to experience the Spirit’s work in their lives (Galatians 5:22-25), develops good, respectful communication, (Philippians 2:1-2), and respects the differences that exists (Romans 14). Each relationship will endure good times and hard times when individuals, out of their commitment to God, remain committed to each other.
The Spaniards were besieging the little town of St. Quentin, on the frontiers of France. Its ramparts were in ruins; fever and famine were discriminating its defenders; treason existed among its terrified population. One day the Spaniards shot over the walls a shower of arrows, to which were attached little slips of parchment, promising the inhabitants that if they would surrender, their lives and property would be spared. The governor of the town was the great leader of the Huguenots, Gaspard de Coligni. He tied his answer to a javelin and wrote, “We have a king!”
“We have a king” we must allow Him to rule no matter what we face in relationships because “His love” never fails.
