<\/p>\n
\u201cMarriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.\u201d (Heb. 13:4 NASB)<\/em><\/p>\n They clinked their wine glasses together and kissed, just as we came through the door. When they saw us, their faces went white. Their eyes quickly dropped in shame.<\/p>\n Both were married;<\/strong> just not to each other.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n We accidentally bumped into this \u201ccouple\u201d over 300 miles away from home. After our awkward greeting, they said they had to leave.<\/p>\n Although we didn\u2019t tell anyone about it (we barely knew them), both were divorced within a year.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve probably experienced something like this, too. In 2024, the NIH estimated that infidelity occurs in 25% of marriages in the U.S. This is so very sad.<\/p>\n Perhaps one of the root causes of infidelity is how people \u201cview\u201d (or think of) marriage.<\/p>\n Some\u00a0joke<\/strong> about marriage being the \u201cold ball and chain.\u201d Others think of marriage as a limited partnership with an exit ramp, if needed. Some don\u2019t even bother to get married because the institution has no value to them.<\/p>\n If the couple we ran into had \u201cheld marriage in honor,\u201d perhaps they wouldn\u2019t have had an affair.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the truth:\u00a0How you view marriage is how you\u2019ll do marriage.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Apparently, things weren\u2019t much different in the first century, so the writer of Hebrews taught that \u201cmarriage is to be held<\/em> in honor among all.\u201d (Heb. 13:4)<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why marriage should be \u201cheld in honor:\u201d<\/p>\n -It\u2019s the closest bond two people can have.<\/p>\n -Marriage is the building block of every society, in every culture.<\/p>\n -The home provides a safe, nurturing place for raising children.<\/p>\n -The bond of marriage is far-reaching, affecting future generations.<\/p>\n -A strong marriage strengthens the church.<\/p>\n -Marriage was created and instituted by God Himself.<\/p>\n God designed marriage to be a great blessing, not a curse. But let\u2019s be real here: marriage can be hard. And sometimes, the flaws can outweigh the blessings<\/strong> of the relationship. Yet, God still calls us to honor and uphold marriage, as best we can.<\/p>\n 5 ways to honor marriage:<\/strong><\/p>\n A Prayer Thanking God for Marriage<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear Lord,<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you for creating marriage and for the great privilege of being married. Thank you for my spouse. Thank you for the beautiful way you weave lives together. Please forgive me when I fail to grasp the wonder and value of marriage. Enable me to see my marriage as your blessing, today. Remind me to honor the marriages of others, as well. In Jesus\u2019s name, amen.<\/em><\/p>\n Questions for Reflection:<\/strong><\/p>\n Photo Credit: \u00a9iStock\/Getty Images Plus\/Serhii Sobolevskyi<\/span><\/p>\n May Patterson<\/em><\/strong>, author of the book,\u00a0Seeking a Familiar Face<\/strong>,<\/strong> began writing over a decade ago in response to God\u2019s grace. And by His grace, she now has a\u00a0popular blog<\/strong> and has written many articles for various magazines, including\u00a0Focus on the Family, Upper Room and iBelieve.com.\u00a0<\/em>She has also published a Bible study,\u00a0A 40-Day Guide<\/strong>\u00a0for Seeking God<\/em>,<\/em> and\u00a0speaks<\/strong> at a variety of events, both nationally and internationally. Her desire is to encourage people to draw closer to God, like never before.<\/p>\n We hope you and your spouse are challenged and encouraged by today’s devotional! For more of this premium<\/em> marriage devotional, visit here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cMarriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.\u201d (Heb. 13:4 NASB) They clinked their wine glasses together and kissed, just as we came through the door. When they saw us, their faces went white. Their eyes quickly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[86,269,588,587],"class_list":["post-8965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-christian-living","tag-daily","tag-devotional","tag-marriage","tag-view"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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