Marriage is God joining together a man and a woman, loyal to each other for life, who each contribute distinct but equally important abilities towards the completion of a fruitful mission greater than can be accomplished apart.
- The relationship between husband and wife reflects the relationship between Christ and the Church.
- God intends marriage to be a lifetime commitment, with sexual relations reserved between only one man and one woman who are married to each other.
- God hates divorce and there are natural, negative consequences for it. But God forgives and restores those who divorce as He does every time we miss His ideal for our lives.
- God made man and woman as equals, but they are not equivalent; of equal value, but not interchangeable. God intended both genders to be essential as each provides a distinct contribution, and they have specialized roles in marriage and in life.
- God made man and woman so that any man and any woman can fit together to form a one-flesh marriage. Yet God in His sovereignty knows exactly whom you will marry.
- No one marriage will be everything—like no one person can be everything. Just as a person has limits and personality, so does a marriage.
- Each marriage union forms a unique relationship that no other two people can replicate.
- Every union has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses.
Difficulty in marriage is not a sign that someone has married the wrong person. All marriages have difficulty. Challenges are an opportunity for growth just as they are in other areas of life. Therefore, the hard work of marriage is to activate and energize the strengths of a unique marriage while:
- Improving upon the weaknesses when possible; and
- Tolerating them when impossible.
This means being flexible with and accepting of a partner’s healthy individual preferences while being firm and patient with unhealthy choices. A marriage will only be as strong as the individual health of the husband and wife.