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Let Marriage be Held in Honor – Hebrews 13
Let Marriage be Held in Honor – Hebrews 13
[Note: this was written in 2014 before the Supreme Court decision concerning gay marriage, but that didn't change God's teaching].
"Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous" (Hebrews 13:4).
There is much talk and writing today about things that endanger marriage. Much of this current talk is centered around the acceptance of a gay relationship as an approved marriage. This conversation really needs to be enlarged. A bigger problem is simply that people no longer hold marriage in high esteem. Heterosexuals live together without bothering to get married, divorce their mates for little or no reason, and are unfaithful in their marriage responsibilities. This attitude towards marriage is now permeating our culture and society.
It is not even divorce that is causing the problem as much as it is the attitudes and actions that bring about the divorce. Among the leading factors in these wrong-headed attitudes is selfishness. Marriage is expendable and dissolvable if I am not 'happy'. Commitment, promises, children's well-being, community, church; they ALL take a back seat to the idea of MY happiness.
So much of this hinges upon sex. The whole idea of sex only within the bounds of a godly marriage is seen today as ‘antiquated, archaic, and out of touch. Those who are married are routinely unfaithful to their mate. Both young people and old are choosing to live together without being married. 'Hookups' are considered just a part of life. Such concepts show a disdain for marriage and not honor.
God simply condemns ALL sexual activity outside of the bonds of marriage. Adulterers and sexually immoral are condemned of God. Whether such is homosexual or heterosexual, it is condemned. Yet, we are bombarded with such immorality in almost every venue of our lives: movies, tv, radio, books, newspapers, etc., etc. Seldom are we shown the tragic consequences of such frivolous flings. We are not shown the anger, hurt and heartache of those who have suffered the unfaithfulness of a mate. Nor do we often see the poverty that the single mothers are usually in. Left untold is the physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that comes from such uncommitted people being allowed into an intimate part of one's life. All is portrayed as wonderful, exciting, and fulfilling.
Such is the way of the world, but such cannot be the way of God's people. We are commanded to hold marriage in high esteem, to deem it as honorable. We are to have no participation in the unfruitful works of darkness but are to expose them for the sin they are (Eph. 5:11). Such unfruitful works were delineated as sexual immorality and impurity (Eph. 5:5). To avoid all such sexual immorality, we are instructed to each have his/her own wife/husband.
Marriage may be in trouble in our society, but your marriage does not have to be. You can have the character that God intended and you can live within a marriage that is honorable. The biggest challenge to your marriage is you. Hugh DeLong
