‘Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.’ Ephesians 5:21

I recently had the privilege of sitting with a young couple to help with their wedding preparations. There is a lot to think about when planning a wedding; food, clothes, music, guests and of course - costs!

The fact is, as the soon as the ceremony is over then everything stops, the counselling, the intense attention, the well wishes. In fact, the only things which continue to roll in are the bills which ned to be paid! But marriage is a great thing and indeed one of the pillars of society which God blessed. It does not come as any surprise to me then the world is trying its utmost best to tear this ceremony down.

‘Mike Pence Receives Criticism for Protecting His Marriage’ was one of two stories which demonstrate to me the current disregard the world has for marriage. Vice President of the United States of America, Mike Pence has been under criticism recently for saying that he does not attend events with other women unless his wife is present. Instead of being applauded for this he is receiving criticism from both sides of his government calling himself righteous. It seems you can’t do right for doing wrong in some quarters. The second headline was ‘Heterosexual couple lose civil partnership challenge’. This story is centred around a heterosexual couple, who did not want to want to get married, arguing that they should have their relationship recognised by the state (United Kingdom) as a civil partnership, as same sex couples did before they were allowed to marry. In effect, they were saying that by not allowing them to have the same rights as same sex couples, they were being discriminated against.

If Christ is not in it, can it really be called a marriage as the key text is being conditional; ‘Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.’ Please pray not just for the general institution of marriage, but for Christ to rule in the hearts of ALL marriages to bring them to a true knowledge of him.

John Waller sings ‘The Marriage Prayer.’ Click on the picture to listen.