Our Need To Stand Firm

In John 10.10 Jesus warns us that “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy” and our spiritual enemy has been seeking to destroy marriage and marriages since Adam and Eve came together. Satan has direct opposition to God and thus all that He created for His glory and the good of His creation. God said that “it was not good for man to be alone” and formed woman from one of mans ribs and then brought them together, and later, through the word inspired through St. Paul, we see that marriage is designed to reflect the relationship of Christ and the church. Satan is particularly hostile towards Christian marriage and is also hostile against marriages in general, and indeed, is hostile to anything of God.

With specific regard to marriage Dr Carol Peters Tanksley wrote in Charisma Magazine article of August 2019 :
“A million things could be affecting your marriage negatively: your spouse’s mistakes, your own mistakes, differing personalities and expectations, lack of communication, busyness, financial or parenting hardships, sickness, extended family problems, and many more.

But none of these are the real enemy of your marriage. And the enemy of your marriage is certainly not your spouse, regardless of how misguided or lazy or inconsiderate they may be.

Behind all the junk, the unrealistic media messages, the personal failings, the conflict and the busyness and the overwhelming problems life brings, there is someone who is out to destroy your marriage. He’s behind the culture of divorce and infidelity, the addiction and abuse. And he’s behind the apathy that often sets in when marriage misery takes root. The enemy of your marriage is God’s enemy—Satan and his kingdom.”

There are several excellent courses and books available that are aimed at enhancing marriages, addressing some of “the million” things referred to above, such areas as communication, conflict resolution, forgiveness, patience, the importance of one-to-one time with each other, recognising and using each other’s “love language” and more. One or two of these courses/books have some reference to scripture and prayer but generally are orientated, somewhat naturally to the “world market” even those from Christian sources!

In marriage “two have become one” and, generally, a better result is achieved when husband and wife are working together on the same side in spiritual warfare, if they don’t it is rather like a bird trying to fly when only one wing is working as it should.

There is one area that many of these courses or books miss and that is that often there are problems in a marriage due to the spiritual battle for marriage and an individual marriage that started with the “fall”. Satan seeks to weaken/destroy the testimony of the Christian church throughout the earth. Christian marriages that have been derailed by Satan ending in divorce are a bad testimony to the world and the media seem at times to delight in reporting these. Unfortunately we do not see the same delight in the media in reporting marriages that glorify God, marriages where couples have identified the true attacker and have fought back to triumph in their marriage.

Furthermore, a Christian marriage that has been even temporarily derailed may often withdraw from church life, and/or church service as they are consumed by their own crises. Behind the scenes their marriage, which was designed to be a centre of evangelism, an incubator of faith has turned toxic. If there are children of the marriage, they are exposed to the toxic environment and are often scarred by it.

We are warned in 1 Peter 5:8 – “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” Our battle is a spiritual one, as is seen in Ephesians 6:10-11 “…be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” In the subsequent verses St. Paul explains what the full armour of God is.

"You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work."

(2 Timothy 3:14-17 NASB)