Making Love Last - Martin Wiles

Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. Hebrews 13:4 NLT

He was the picture of faithfulness, but he carried a fake ID hiding a dark secret.

Frank was a dedicated church member and faithful husband—or so it appeared. He and his wife had moved back to their hometown after his retirement from the military. They immediately joined their old church and went to work. Frank held a number of positions, among them chairman of deacons. 

Several years after their return, Frank’s dark secret came out after it was discovered that he and the preacher’s wife were having an affair. This wasn’t his first. Unfaithfulness had happened before with another friend’s wife, which was why they had chosen to re-locate. As with the prior incident, Frank’s wife decided to remain with him. But they would change locations again and start over. Perhaps, this time it would be different. 

According to statistics, many don’t take the high view of marriage God does. Certainly, there are occasions when God gives permission for the marriage to dissolve. He allows it for adultery—although He doesn’t command it, and He certainly doesn’t expect a partner to risk their lives or their children’s lives by staying in an abusive situation. 

If I’m going to make love last, I must define marriage as God does. Ideally, it is for a lifetime: “until death do you part.” Unfaithfulness and abuse may rob one partner of that pleasure, but it should at least be the intent when taking marriage vows. 

Faithfulness is a must for love to last. For God to make unfaithfulness an allowance for divorce shows how seriously He considers faithfulness. Not only faithfulness to the other spouse but also faithfulness to everything necessary to keep a marriage strong: faithfulness to serving God together, faithfulness to equality in the marriage, and faithfulness to helping each other with family chores. 

Remaining faithful in marriage also means preparing for temptation. Temptations to unfaithfulness abound. Satan loves nothing better than to destroy homes. He knows the lifelong havoc this can inflict. Unfaithfulness is the big home wrecker. Time in the Word, time in prayer, and time with my spouse will help keep temptation away so I can remain faithful. 

Are you working diligently to make love last in your marriage?

Prayer: Father, turn our eyes toward You for wisdom to make our marriages strong. 

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