God desires you to enjoy honor in your family life. If you have been experiencing honor I believe He wants to double your experience, however, if you have not been experiencing honor in your family life or you are afraid of getting married because of what you have seen and heard and think of marriage, I have good news for you.
There is honor for you in marriage and in family life. God has reserved a certain dignity and prestige for his children which as His child you can enjoy when married. Why you may ask did God do this? It is because the subject of marriage and the family is close to His heart. He shows this to us by making marriage and family life the first institution after the creation of man "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen.2:18).
After man's creation his marriage and family life was a priority to God. This tells you that God is interested in what is going on in your marriage. He is also interested in what is going on in your family, with your children, your in-laws, your relations and even your environment. Not only is He interested to know what's going on He also wants to help you in these areas of your life so that things work smoothly and you get the best out of family life. Maybe you've not seen an example of lasting honor in marriage and find it hard to agree with what God is saying. Some people say seeing is believing. However God says he wants you to believe his word (the Bible) and then you will see (physically) what you believe. What does His word say?
A) "Marriage is honorable in all..." (Heb.13:4). We mention marriage because the proper foundation on which any family should be built is marriage. Any other foundation you opt out for to raise or build a family will eventually crumble. Also how you conduct the marriage will also determine whether you built on a faulty or faultless foundation.
"Your marriage is meant to bring you honor in ALL areas of your life. It is meant to lift you to a more honorable status in your job, amongst your friends, at church and in business circles, and even before God.
B) Expect honor in your marriage. As a child of God since Christ has declared that Honor is your portion in marriage. For instance if you are single and you are not expecting honor, it will not be your portion. Why? because the word of God says ``...thine expectation shall not be cut off'' that means you will get what you expect. Many people go through negative things concerning the family because their mind is already set for evil by the negative things relations told them or they heard from people. Then when evil occurs they say ``Oh they told me marriage was like this'' however negative things occur not because marriage and family life are like that but because such people lack the knowledge required to enjoy honor.
If you stick to God's word instead of running around seeking other sources for help no matter how bad the situation looks you will come out on top. God's word will establish honor for you in your marriage and family life. So begin to retune your mind to honor, let your thoughts be thoughts of honor. Anything contrary to honor in your marriage or family is not of God so refuse it. "Ever before I got married I told God I wanted nothing short of honour in marriage, God has not failed one bit to that faith." God is no respecter of persons what he does for one, he will do for others as long as they are obedient.
C) The marriage bed must be kept pure. Also to enjoy honor the marriage bed must be clean, not defiled. This applies to both the married and unmarried. The problems many couples face when married is because the marriage bed prior to the wedding was defiled. This brings affliction upon such persons or couples later on in life. If the mistake has already been made repent ask for forgiveness from God, forgive the other party and yourself so you can move on in life. But do not endanger yourself by indulging in it again. Note ``Anybody that is not married to you and wants to take you to bed doesn't love you, but is lusting after you. If you read the story of Tammar in the Bible, after the man Ammon (2 Sam. 13:3-15) had gone to bed with her his lust for her turned to hatred for her and like a rag she was cast away. Usually after such things there is a serious dislike or hatred that springs up because a door was opened for satan to plant evil seeds in the heart of one of the parties.
"There was a couple I knew who were always fighting physically. The husband would beat and mistreat the wife, the lady later confessed that they both allowed the marriage bed to be defiled before they got married. And so the devil gained entrance to torment and cause affliction for them."
Do I remain a virgin then before marriage? Yes, it is not old fashioned to do so, in fact to God it is very important ( Deut.22:20,21).
"Another sister I know who was careless enough to fall into the same trap was later told by the brother that he was not interested in her again. She was mentally disturbed for some time and ended up spending 10 years in university and couldn't even pass out. Why? because the marriage bed was defiled and the break up in the relationship caused a heartache to hard for her to bear." Affliction was not meant for her but when you refuse to obey God's commands you enjoy the devil's rewards. The law of honor in marriage was not obeyed. Statistically 90% out of the people who engage in pre-marital sex before marriage end up going through heartache and affliction which they need not go through.
Christian parents take time to let your children know the secret of enjoying honor in marriage so they can enjoy it in their families later on in life.
For the marrieds it is quite clear that outside your marriage partners any arousing physical contact is against God's desire for you. Supposing you are having problems in this area then get educated concerning this area the Lord said ``my people perish for lack of knowledge" It is your lack of knowledge concerning matters in this area that may hinder a perfect flow with your mate so seek counsel from proper channels.
The honor in marriage is meant to touch all areas of your life. One of which is that the Lord Himself sends to you strange favours "He that finds... obtains favour from the Lord" (Prov.18:22). If you have not experienced this dimension of honor & favour before, I will pray with you now and God will do a new thing in your life. However, if you happened to have ever defiled the marriage bed repent & ask forgiveness from God first before saying this prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I pray this same honor and grace you have bestowed on me in marriage will be theirs in their marriage and home now in the name of Jesus. Receive favour in your home in Jesus precious name.
