Marriage

​The story is told of a conversation between a teenager and his grandfather.  The young man said, “Gee Grampa, your generation didn’t have all these social diseases.  What did you wear to have safe sex?”  The wise old gentleman replied, “A wedding ring.”

Meditation
1 Corinthians 7:3,4--A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband.  A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.
 
Recently I ran across the term HPV—Human Papillomavirus.  It is known as the “wart virus” and it is one of the most common human infections.  Dr. Ray Fowler writes: By now, as many as 90% of cases of cancer of the cervix can have detectable HPV in the cancerous cells.  The correct conclusion to draw seems to be that HPV can ‘cause’ cervical cancer.  It is even proper to conclude that ‘unprotected intercourse can lead to cancer of the cervix.’

Mentally, I add another term to a growing list of sex grenades.  The number of people infected with sexually transmitted diseases today is shocking.  Why do so many people put their physical, emotional and spiritual health at great risk by living promiscuously?  

Could it be dissatisfaction?  I can write a laundry list of things I object to in my wife.  I imagine she could use it as a bookmark for the chapter of shortcomings I would fill.  I find in counseling couples with war-zone marriages, that fault-finding is a well-honed art.  The loss of satisfaction in one’s mate can easily lead to infidelity.  Yet, so long as we are dressed in flesh bequeathed from Adam, there will never be a perfect spouse.  Unless the one we are married to is in unrepentant adultery or engaged in unlawful abusive behavior, we should do all we can to preserve and enrich the marriage union.  

Constant criticism tears the fabric of marriage.  We don’t put an iron ring around our finger because iron rusts.  We invest in valuable gold--which serves as a reminder of our promise to hold our consummation sacredly.  Dr. Gary Smalley advocates honoring our partner if we want to see our marriage flourish.  Honoring one another is what motivates healthy growth.  When I see and communicate value in my spouse I am investing in her worth.  When I show her affection around our children they see how much I love her which encourages them!  

Ruth Bell Graham says, “A good marriage is the union of two forgivers.”  Are you willing to stop picking apart the one who shares your bed and desist from acid-laced sarcasm or constant haranguing?  Are you willing to honor him or her in attitude, word and deed?  When was the last time you complimented the one you once looked at adoringly, or said “I love you”, or stopped all your busyness to listen.  By God’s grace and in His strength stoke the fire of honorable love.  The world has easy access to Hollywood’s version of marriage which resembles sanitation work with its weekly dumpings.  It’s time for two committed to being one and staying that way!  
 
Inspiration
Think of the average married life after, say, five or ten years; too often it sinks down into the most commonplace drudgery.  The reason is that the husband and wife have not known God rightly, they have not gone through the transfiguration of love, nor entered through the discipline of disillusionment into satisfaction in God, and consequently they have begun to endure one another instead of having one another for enjoyment in God.—Oswald Chambers in The Place of Help
 
©2001 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)