Marriage Series - Be On Your Guard Against Divorce Part 1

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that

provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

My older daughter is getting married in a little less than two weeks. Our whole

family is so excited! We are so happy for our daughter and so delighted that

she will soon join a wonderful Christian man in marriage. The preparations for

her marriage are many and complex. Now, every culture goes through those

preparations in slightly different ways. But people all over the world want their

children to enter into strong, healthy, fruitful, long-lasting marriages.

If you are married, think back on the preparations for your marriage. If you are

not married, think about the preparations one of your family members went

through before getting married. To marry well takes time. It takes forethought

and it takes planning. People take time to think and plan because they want

their marriages to go well.

But sometimes, married couples forget about all the counsel they received

before marriage. They forget the words of wisdom given to them by trusted

friends and family members. They think that the words of their pastor on their

wedding day were just formalities and ritual. They get in a hurry to just live

their lives. And I have to admit, sometimes this works out OK. But sometimes

it does not.

The prophet Malachi had some very wise words for married couples. He said in

Malachi 2:15, “So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you

be faithless to the wife of your youth.” He repeated this instruction in the

next verse saying, “So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

So here is a question worth pondering: How does a man guard himself in his

spirit, so he will be faithful and not faithless to his wife? And, how does a

woman guard herself so that she will not be faithless to her husband? The first

step is by meditating on what it means to be faithful.

To be faithful to one’s wife means to completely avoid sexual and emotional

bonding with another woman. To be faithful to one’s wife means to be

completely devoted to that woman’s welfare in every sphere of life. To be

faithful is to continually love one’s wife, in word and deed. To be faithful is to

cultivate trust and connection, emotional bonding along with growing respect

and appreciation.

Our God is faithful to us. His love never fails. His goodness toward us never

comes to an end. He delights in hearing our prayers and speaking to our hearts. 

Our God will not reject us. He is always merciful and kind to us. He is

patient and loving.

Our faithful God calls on every man to be faithful to his wife. He calls on every

woman to faithful to her husband. He calls us to be like him.

But he knows it is not always easy. He knows that the tempter will constantly

tempt us to act in selfish ways to put our own interests and needs above those

of our spouse. Thus the words of God’s prophet Malachi, “Guard yourself in

your spirit and do not be faithless.”

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this

encouraging word with today?