How Fighting Can Save Your Marriage
Marriage is not for sissies. It requires more courage, endurance, and tenacity than any other calling for the simple reason that the entire foundation of the earth is built upon the family. Therefore, the God-ordained covenant of marriage is Satan’s biggest threat. For this reason he does his level-best to thwart every attempt to fight for, to protect, and to save the marriage relationship.
The Evil One will do everything within his power and will utilize every tool in his arsenal to undermine, impair, and destroy marital unity. The Father of Lies will work overtime coercing husband and wife, deftly manipulating their respective weaknesses. He takes pleasure in luring couples into the stupor of mediocrity, causing them to slowly and imperceptibly drift apart in spirit. He routinely uses the weapons of deceit, distraction, and compromise. He delights in discord, applauds anger, and rejoices at resentment. His ultimate goal is the triumphant destruction of the marital union.
I heard a man once say that his marriage was “one argument away from divorce”. Was it that his marriage was on such shaky ground that a single argument could completely destroy it, or was he stating that any marriage must always be on the alert against demonic attack from the unseen world? I will never know the context of his remark, but it does cause one to give the matter substantial thought. Most strong marriages rooted and grounded in God’s Word could not be so easily shaken, but surely, Satan is well acquainted with our vulnerabilities and will always use them to his advantage. Your marriage may not be one argument away from divorce, but we as Believers must always be vigilant, as every marriage has the potential to be blindsided by an enemy attack.
Sadly, I’ve heard more than one wife state that her husband would not fight for her, or for their marriage. What a dreadful, insecure way for any wife to live. The thought that my husband would not find me worth fighting for would cause me to despair.
In Old Testament Judaen culture, only the husband signed the marriage covenant
contract. He alone was completely responsible for the success ~ or failure ~ of the marriage. It may shock some to know that this precept remains unchanged in the New Testament. Although Eve initiated the disobedient act of tasting the forbidden fruit in the Old Testament account of the fall, Adam willingly participated, failing to correct the error of Eve’s way. Whom did the Lord confront about the sin? Adam attempted to blame Eve but God pointed His Holy finger at Adam. In the New Testament, the family structure is distinctively defined:
“But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
~ Ephesians 24:27
The husband is tasked with sanctifying his wife, that she would be holy and blameless. Adam not only failed to protect Eve from the wiles of the Devil, he sacrificed life in Paradise for self-fulfillment and momentary, fleshly pleasure. His dereliction of duties resulted in all of mankind suffering the repercussions. Almighty God gave Adam the responsibility to lead, and he chose to lead Eve down a path of disobedience to disconnection from their Father.
The husband is charged with family leadership. Leaders are always held accountable for the well-being of those they lead. If a CEO makes poor decisions or deviates from company protocol, he puts every employee at risk. If a pastor compromises the Truth of God’s infallible Word, he leads his congregants astray. If a husband fails to lead his family in the ways of our Holy Lord, he surrenders his family’s welfare.
Are you willing to fight for your marriage? Are you willing to do battle to protect and defend your sacred union? Then prepare yourself. Study your training manual, the Bible. Build spiritual muscle through prayer. Know your Commanding Officer, Almighty God, intimately, and fully submit to His authority. Fight for your marriage. Fight with everything that is in you! To God be the victory!
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“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
~ Ephesians 6:12