Four P's to Keep in Mind Regarding Marriage

 

 

 

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God

and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed

his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love:

not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear

friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love

one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  We know that we live in him and he in us,

because he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be

the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in

God.   And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God,

and God in him” (1 John 4:7-16).

 

 

  1. Purpose: For the Glory of God
  2. Principle: The Love of God the Father
  3. Pattern: The Suffering of God the Son Jesus
  4. Power: Fellowship with the God the Holy Spirit

 

More important than the act of marriage itself is understanding the sovereign plan and work of God in the encounter between the two individuals before they decide to marry.  Knowing the providence, goodness, faithfulness, and grace of God in bringing two people together, as described in the Bible, is crucial.  A marriage that lacks the experience of God's touch and goodness, carried out without recognizing His sovereign providence, is like a sailboat floating on a stormy sea.  The Bible testifies that "God is love" (1 Jn. 4:8, 16) and, therefore, our marriages should be a process of applying and manifesting God's love for us.  The principle of this love involves spouses dedicating themselves to each other, bearing the burdens of suffering together, and walking the path of the cross that Jesus walked.  Marriage should be a vow to live for the glory of God, expressing His love, committing to walk the path of Jesus' suffering together, and resolving to fulfill God's will in deep fellowship with the Holy Spirit.  Only marriages built on such a solid foundation stand strong.