Dating your spouse

During Marriage Week there is a great opportunity to strengthen or rebuild a strong marriage culture within the church and beyond in the community. We can add “fuel” to rekindle a vibrant marriage culture in a society that no longer understands what marriage is, much less what it is for.

During Marriage Week honour, celebrate and teach God’s design and purpose for marriage. This year the theme is “The Joy of Marriage” which could be a theme to preach on or use in group settings if you are led that way.

Some have a mixed understanding of the meaning of “joy” often equating it to happiness.

What’s the Difference? The words “joy” and “happiness” are often interchanged when describing emotions, but they are very different.  Websters Dictionary (1828) starts their definition of happiness:

“The agreeable sensations which spring from the enjoyment of good; that state of a being in which his desires are gratified, by the enjoyment of pleasure without pain; felicity; but happiness usually expresses less than felicity, and felicity less than bliss. happiness is comparative…..”.

Whereas they describe Joy as: “The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement of

Kind words are like honey—
sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
Proverbs 16:24 [NLT]

Some years ago, my wife and I were asked by a student at a Bible School in Latvia to pray for her friend whose husband, whilst going to church himself, had banned her from going and was also continually denigrating her, he also encouraged their young daughter to denigrate her as well. We were also told that when people from the church asked the husband about his wife, he told them various stories, but no one really tried to check with her. Just the other day we heard a father telling his young son that he did not like him and then a wife telling her husband that she always seemed to be doing wrong these days according to him.

Scripture tells us much about the power of words and the power of the tongue “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21 [NKJV] and then in James 3:8-10 [NLT] “but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.

There is much to guide the people of the church to lead a Godly life with the inspired, written word within Hebrews 13.

Focussing on the word “honour” in the opening of verse 13:4, “Let Marriage Be Held in Honour among all,” “honour” being translated from the Greek word “τίμιος.” We see that from Strong’s Number: g5093. “τίμιος timios; including the comparative τιμιώτερος timiōteros; and the superlative τιμιώτατος timiōtatos; from 5092; valuable, i.e. (objectively) costly, or (subjectively) honored, esteemed, or (figuratively) beloved: — dear, honorable, (more, most) precious, had in reputation.
AV (14) – precious 8, most precious 2, more precious 1, dear 1, honourable 1, had in reputation 1;
as of great price, precious held in honour, esteemed, especially dear.”

Translators use “precious” for the word “τίμιος” in the New Testament, as found in 1 Cor. 3:12; 1 Peter 1:19 and then again in 2 Peter 1:4. Marriage, marriages are precious, to be treasured, respected, valued and invested in.

How can we show we hold marriage in honour and see marriage as precious? We need to show we are in sync with the word of God, the Holy Bible, including His words on marriage for the good of