Continuation from Part 1 on our preparation for marriage.
3. Marriage Can Meet Your Needs
The 7 needs from the Word of God that Christian marriage is designed to meet.
- Completion
Genesis 2:18 and 24 shows that marriage brings completion. Marriage involves a mysterious merging of two separate but equal individuals in such a way that they learn to complement each other and thereby actually complete each other. Completion involves fellowship, companionship and friendship.
A friend is a person with whom you feel comfortable, who's company you prefer over anothers. You can count on for support and encouragement and out-and-out honesty. A friend shares the same belief about your potential, dreams and concerns. A true friend takes Galatians 6:2 seriously. What you share will never be used against you. Laughter and praying is part of friendship. A friend is one who stands by you in a time of difficulty and trouble while maintaining a level of objectivity. You can be yourself when you are with your friend. A friend is someone who can see you at your worst as well as at your best and still love you just the same.
Q:
Are you experiencing this kind of relationship at the present time with your fiance?
Could this area of your life be improved?
Do the two of you have the potential for this?
List three ways you've experienced this kind of friendship up to this point.
Completion is a process, taking work and effort.
- Consolation
Genesis 2:18
Proverbs 12:25
Proverbs 25:11
Consolation comes from speaking in a manner that encourages, supports and brings about healing to the other person. A married individual has the opportunity of being used by God as a channel of His healing grace.
Q:
List 3 ways you encourage your fiance.
Ask what ways your fiance would like to be encouraged.
-Communication
Communication is the means by which one person has the opportunity to learn to know and understand his/her mate.
David and Vera Mace liken communication to a large house with many rooms to which couple fall heir on their wedding day. Their hope is to use and enjoy these rooms so that they will serve the many activities that make up their shared life. But in many marriages doors are found to be locked- they represent areas in the relationship that the couple are unable to explore together. Attempts to open these doors lead to failure and frustration. The right key cannot be found. So the couple resigns themselves to living together in only a few rooms which can be opened easily, leaving the rest of the house with all its promising possibilities unexplored and unused. There is, however, a master key that will open every door. It is not easy to find. Or, more correctly, it has to be forged by the couple together, and this can be very difficult. It is the great art of effective marital communication.
-Coition
Sexuality is our celebration of God's continuing creativity resulting in conception. He has honored the simple act of joining bodies with the ultimate significance of beginning life. Two who give themselves to each other in the intimacy of marriage celebrate the eternal potential of their act of love even if without the intention of conception.
-Creation
Bringing new life into being.
-Correlation
It has to do with the relationships that exist in a Christian home. The husband and wife relationship and family life is a microcosm of the Body of Christ. It is a little church, a fellowship of believers together. This relationship, particularly between husband and wife should reflect to others- the non-Christian community- what a church is really like.
-Christianization
A christian family can be one of the most powerful and persuasive evangelistic forces on earth. Living the Christian life in a family is difficult, but it has a far greater effect upon the world than preaching or the distribution of tracts. It is a proof of the reality of the power of God in an individual's life.
to be continued...
Materials taken from
Wright, H.N. (1985). So You're Getting Married. Ventura, California: Regal Books.
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