My husband and I share one car. It has been this way since we married. We used my Jetta to travel all around the United States and even into Canada! When we came back to live in our hometown, we were penniless and eager to be debt free, so we never found a good enough reason to get another vehicle. The Jetta has served us beyond what we expected and our schedules always seemed perfect enough to carpool, so I guess I shouldn’t complain about only having one car.
A few weeks ago I was dropping my husband off at work and had a small epiphany. Orange cones began to narrow the lanes down to one, while a big black screen with small orange dots in the shape of arrows encouraged traffic to merge. Up a little farther were detour signs giving traffic an alternative route. Past those signs were warnings of the road being closed. I realized that all traffic signs guide drivers through roads safely, cautioning them of what’s ahead, as well as warning us of roadblocks or speed limits. In addition to being helping advisers, traffic signs serve as visual reminders of the law and avoiding such will result in consequences. Are you ready for the epiphany? Like traffic signs, God gives us guidelines for marriage. His word is full of them! Of course in addition to the Ten Commandments, check out these verses below that will guide marriage…
Matthew 22: 36-39 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
Ephesians 5:22-33 “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church- for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
Proverbs 12:4 “A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.”
Matthew 19:4-6 “And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let no man separate.”
Colossians 3:18-19 “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.”
1 Peter 3:1-2 “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.”
1 Peter 5:7 “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
Galatians 5:13 “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through LOVE serve one another.”
1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”
Colossians 3:12-17 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
You see, God wants to safely guide us through marriage, just as those traffic signs guide drivers. If we yield to God’s word, we will be able to avoid pit-falls, loose gravel, dead ends, erosion, etc. We also need to be aware of God’s law and the consequences that will follow if we trespass.
