3 Simple Rules For Making A Marriage Work Series

When I say the word “marriage,” what do you think? Are you a little jaundice about the idea of marriage? I spoke to a lady recently who said when I got married I was looking for the ideal, instead, the marriage became an ordeal, so now I want a new deal.

One day, a man went to the Super Bowl, sitting there with an empty seat beside him. The gentleman sitting next to him said, “Was that your seat? I see no one sitting there.” He said, “Yes. My wife and I had these tickets, but she died recently. And none of our friends who I invited could make it to the Super Bowl either. So the seat is empty.” He said, “None of your friends could make it to the Super Bowl? Really?” He said, “No, they couldn’t.” He said, “Wow! The biggest sports event in all history, and they missed the Super Bowl.” He said, “Yeah, they’re all at HER funeral.”

Yes, many are down on the idea of marriage, and it’s easy to get a laugh when talking about marriage. But maybe you are more hopeful about the idea of marriage?

Cynical about Marriage

People are so cynical about marriage that they don’t bother tying the knot. Millennials are hesitant to tie the knot at all. Remember that Millennials are born between 1984 to 1998. Marriage is diminishing in our society, probably due to increased cynicism over lifelong married love. The number of American adults over twenty-five who have never been married is at an all-time high. In 1960, only one in ten adults over twenty-five were never married. While in 2012, the number of adults who’ve never married is now one in five. Again, people are so cynical about marriage that they don’t bother tying the knot. And it’s not just young people. A recent study says that those fifty and older are among the fastest growing segment of the population to cohabitate.

I want to sell you on the benefits of lifelong marriage in the next few moments. In the next few moments, I want to help you celebrate marriage, whether married, divorced, or single. God gave us marriage for our happiness. God gave us marriage to be a blessing in our lives. Your marriage can serve as a catalyst for your relationship with God.

Today’s Scripture

Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!

13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless” (Malachi 2:10-16).

This morning, I want to talk with you about the American problem of throwaway marriages. If you want to have a happy home and a marriage that acts as a catalyst for your spiritual growth, then…

1. Be a Faithful Person

“Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god” (Malachi 2:11).

If you want to have a happy home, be a faithful person.

1.1 Faithless vs. Faithful

“Why then are we faithless to one another,” the prophet asks. While Malachi will move to marriage at the end of verse 11, the prophet speaks against our faithlessness to one another at the beginning of verse 11. He asks two rhetorical questions, “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” If we are created by God, then why are we faithless to one another?