One time there was a young lady who lived in rags and had to help others in order to survive. Despite the fact that she was forced to work as a slave and toil, she persevered and showed kindness and concern to others who were less fortunate than herself. Her demur was clear that she believed God would provide for her needs, despite being poor her entire life.
This same young lady has been featured in many fairy tales. They have painted her so lovingly on the inside and so beautiful on her outside that a prince could overlook her poverty and see the real woman. The princely youth who was unhappy had never met anyone worthy of his love until she entered his life.
This is how movies and cartoons tell it. They live happily ever after and she marries the prince. Life is rarely as good as the movies, regardless of how much you try to force it to follow this storyline. It is difficult to sell love.
More than half of all marriages end up in divorce. It is becoming more common to live together in a non-legal marriage. Because of the loss of love, families around the globe are falling apart. The love that was meant to thrive and endure should be nurtured.
What happened to the fairytale life that brings two people together for a lifetime. Is it possible to have a strong relationship in today’s world?
Genesis 2: 18 “The Lord God stated that it was not good for a man to live alone. I will provide a companion who is suitable to assist him.
God created man and women to be together in the beginning. They were bound together by their marriage, which was unbreakable and bonded them through love. Their souls became one. They would all populate the globe together. They would live together in the Garden of Eden as a couple, enjoying one another and building a loving relationship to God.
God wanted marriage to be strong and allow two people to face off against each other by uniting their efforts. Two people who would live together with God at the center of their lives.
God had to test the loyalty of each person to see if they would listen to Him. Two trees stood in the middle of the garden. One tree yielded the secrets of good or evil, while the other was the tree of eternal youth. They were forbidden from ever eating from either of these trees.
The snake was the most beautiful creature in the universe. Satan entered the snake to persuade Eve to eat from his forbidden tree of good or evil. Everything changed from that point on. The world became a game of good and evil, and man was the winner.
The world was no longer perfect. It was full of temptations to sin. Everyone had the option to choose between good and evil. Everyone had the freedom to choose whether they wanted to follow God or their evil selves.
The Spiritual game was born, allowing an unseen world to influence men’s minds in the great tug of war of life. Satan was punished for inciting man and woman against God, and was brought to the surface. Satan was made the god of the Earth and his spirit demons infected men’s minds with thoughts of jealousy and pride, selfishness and impatience.
Jesus speaks out about Satan’s control of the world. John 14:30a, “I can’t talk with you any longer, because this is the ruler of the world.”
God responded and sent guardian angels to help protect His world’s game players. They were instilled with the Holy Spirit’s voice. He sent prophets who taught people how to defeat Satan and sin. He gave us His Laws of Moses, and then He offered the greatest sacrifice for our sins when He sent Jesus to die.
The people closest to us are our greatest enemy when the battle for men’s minds begins. Satan is constantly attacking our marriages. Satan will take couples who have lost a child or are sick and make them blame each other. Satan uses arguments to get at the bottom of things such as picking up clothes, washing dishes, and watching too many sports.
Matthew 10:36 “A man will have his worst enemies in his family members.”
Jesus goes so far as to state that there is a world game between good and bad that you may have to give up your whole family to play your part in winning your game. When the difficulties of keeping your family together bring so much evil into your lives, you will need to divorce. To keep your faith in God, you must divorce.
Luke 14:26. “Whoever comes and loves me more than his father, his mother, his children, his siblings, his brother and sisters and himself can be my disciple.”
If couples don’t put God first, marriages will not last. It will be difficult to live together if you and your partner don’t believe in God. God and love are the foundations of strong marriages.
Satan uses stress to cause unhappiness at work. When finances are insufficient to pay the bills, he uses them. When a woman’s hormones are out-of-control, he uses her menstrual cycle. To get a man to leave his family and start an affair, he uses his mid-life crisis. When both spouses refuse to come together and work through the issues with God’s help, marriages can end.
Luke 12:52-53. “From now on, a family with five members will be divided into three against two and three against three.” Fathers will be against the sons of their children, and sons against the fathers. Mothers will be against daughters and daughters against mothers. Mothers-in law will be against daughters-in laws, and daughters in-law against mothers-in.
The Bible is God’s way of teaching us about the formation of a family and how to protect ourselves from Satan’s destructive powers. He teaches us to love and respect our partner.
Ephesians 5 – 25 “Husbands love their wives just like Christ loved the church, and gave his life to make it possible.” Verse 33: “But it also applies; every husband should love his wife as he himself, and every wife should respect him.”
Adam and Eve were not content with perfection. This led to the game of life. They desired to know the things of God, and the only way to do this was to be tempted to do evil.
Only God can help us understand this complex world and build strong relationships. God is love! God can protect us from all evil. God is showing us how to love unconditionally through the trials we face in this world.
Satan is determined to stop us from seeing the truth of our actions. He forces us to think only of ourselves. He uses worldly values to tell us to take care ourselves. He makes us hate our spouses so much that we cease loving.
Matthew 24:12 “Such will the spread of evil that many people will become cold to your love.”
God shows us how to build solid relationships when He works in our lives. His guidance helps us to not think only about ourselves. He helps us put our partners’ needs first. God is the head and He creates unbreakable marriages.
Ephesians 5:21-24, “Submit yourself to one another out of your reverence towards Christ.”
Wives, you must submit to your husbands just as the Lord requires. A husband can have authority over his wife as Christ does over the church. Christ is the Savior of the church and his body. So wives should submit to their husbands as Christ did for the church.
These verses are valuable for those who strive to maintain strong relationships. We must remember that relationships are what make a difference in life.
Sometimes, we fall for lust or love when we get into relationships. Sometimes, we fall for deceitful people who claim they love us but only to get what they want. Sometimes God uses the wrong relationships to show us what we want in the right person that we will marry later.
Realizing your need for God is key to understanding the difference between building a secure relationship and one that is mutually satisfying. God creates strong relationships. God guards us against the evil voice that Satan wants to destroy love. God is the only way marriage can survive in a global game.
John 4:7 and 8 “Dear friends let us love each other because love comes from God.” The one who loves is a child and friend of God. Love is the best way to know God.
The prince looked at her princess with loving eyes. He held her close and she fell into his arms. God built love and holds it together. A marriage that is strong because it overcomes the challenges in the world with God’s help to live “Happily Ever after”.
