Marriage
Share

That’s a good picture of a marriage that is based on the ministry of reconciliation. Strong Christian marriages will still be struck with lightning — sexual temptation, communication problems, frustrations, unrealized expectations — but if the marriages are heavily watered with an unwavering commitment to please God above everything else, the conditions won’t be ripe for a devastating fire to follow the lightning strike. If I’m married only for happiness, and my happiness wanes for whatever reason, one little spark will burn the entire forest of my relationship. But if my aim is to proclaim and model God’s ministry of reconciliation, my endurance will be fireproof.”
Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000) p. 36.
_________________
Brian Hedges is Senior Pastor of Fulkerson Park Baptist Church in Niles, MI.