Gospel Reenactment

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:21

WESTERN CULTURE HAS shaped our minds to believe that the purpose of the institution of marriage is to make individuals happy. People tend to believe that marriage is about finding the right person: a person whose likes and dislikes, hobbies and interests, match our own. We tend to believe it’s about finding a person who completes us and makes us whole. This results in a me mind-set in marriage. We can foolishly enter into a marriage relationship focused on what we think we will get out of it.

In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul tells us that marriage isn’t about making ourselves happy; it’s about making us holy. Marriage is a picture of how Jesus loves the church and gave Himself as a sacrifice for her (Ephesians 5:23, 25). Marriage isn’t about finding the right person; it’s about being the right person. Both husband and wife are called to be the type of people who love unconditionally, forgive continually, and serve sacrificially—just like Jesus.

Paul calls us to enter into marriage with a ministry mind-set. Marriage isn’t about what you can get out of the relationship but about what you can give to the relationship for God’s glory. When you seek to demonstrate love in your marriage, when you are willing to lay down your life for your spouse and serve her sacrificially, the gospel is rehearsed daily in your household.

BOTTOM LINE

Marriage is about having a ministry mind-set of loving service rather than a selfish mind-set.

Moment of Strength: Ephesians 5:21-33