The Grace Marriageနမူနာ

DAY 2—Grace Sets Your Marriage Free

The stereotypes of marriage in our culture are anything but positive. You may hear phrases like:

-“The old ball and chain”

-“Taking the plunge”

-“Settling down”

Marriage is viewed as a restrictive and dull state—a death knell to the “fun you.” You won’t hear many people talking about the fact it’s an amazing opportunity to spend your whole life growing closer to your very best friend.

Society celebrates the wedding day and almost vilifies marriage. But we can’t just blame popular culture. The stereotypes have come from the broad observation of many marriages. How many marriages do you know that look exciting, enriching, vibrant, and fun?

Why have we allowed marriage to be degraded in such a way when God says we are to “hold marriage in high regard” (Hebrews 13:4)? How can we do marriage in a way different from the world, a way that brings life to our relationships and glory to God?

We put them under the grace of God. We offer love to our spouse as a free gift of grace.

Grace in marriage flips the script and can transform our marriages. We are called to love our spouse with a sacrificial love—the way Christ loved us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And, how do we love one another? As Christ has loved us.

In a performance-based marriage, we expect our spouse to do and say and be everything we need or want them to. We express frustration and distance ourselves when our expectations aren’t met. Resentment grows, distance sets in, and the marriage is vulnerable to attack and destruction.

Thankfully, God did not require us to conquer all our faults to enter into a relationship with Him. So we should not require our spouse to be everything we want them to be to have a good relationship with us.

Romans 6:14 states, “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” We accept and then rest and live in the grace of Jesus. Then, we place our marriages under that same grace. Sin doesn’t have dominion over us or our relationships. Jesus’ power and love rules in our homes and is put on display for the world.