Marriage & Family预览

The higher purpose

Love. Songs are written about it. Movies are made where the happy ending comes after many trials and lots of tribulations. The hero and his girl gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes, locked in an overdue embrace, with music swirling around them as the sun sets and, as the credits roll, we just know they’re going to live happily ever after.

If only life were like that. In reality marriage is about two imperfect human beings starting out a life together, husband and wife, with very little idea of what the highs and lows will be, and who will get up to change the baby at 4 am.

As a husband, I know every single day that I’m not perfect. I fall way short of the on-screen ideal. I look to Jesus often as my example. The Bible tells us that He is the bridegroom, and the church is His bride. Marriage becomes a context, not just for doing life with your spouse, growing spiritually, getting closer to Christ each day, doing it together. Marriage becomes the safe, secure context for raising children to know and love Christ, just as husband and wife grow in their love of Jesus, who is the strong binding thread.

In the rough and tumble of doing life together, it’s easy to live parallel lives and to forget that there’s a higher purpose to marriage. It’s the expression of ‘holiness,' the growing more and more into our identity in Christ. We are His bride after all, and it’s our purpose to know Him and love Him more deeply with every day that passes.

Written by CHRIS PARFOOT