Five Vital Secrets of a Happy Marriage

In Matthew 19:3-6, Jesus touched upon the first of five vital secrets of a happy marriage.

1. Preserve Unity at All Costs. “The two shall become one,” said Jesus. “So that they are no longer two but one.” Obviously, it was the gracious design of the divine Architect of the marriage institution that the man and woman should be united not only legally but totally. A wedding should see two hearts laid upon an altar that is aglow with the fire of divine love, here to be fused and forged into one sacred instrument for God and coming forth more strong, more efficient and more durable than ever one could be alone.

It should be a trysting place at the crossroads of life where two travelers meet and, linking arms and minds and hearts, stride on together with tenfold more confidence and zeal toward one noble purpose, one holy goal. It should be the beginning of a lifelong experience of thinking together, talking together, planning together, hoping together and praying together. The beautiful oneness should pervade every phase of life from wedding day till journey’s end.

It is not without good reason that the formal words employed at a wedding ceremony include the solemn pledge, “I take thee…for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.” It is based on six millenniums of experience. And it is vital to married happiness. How tragic that so many brides and grooms recite the words all too carelessly, without a thought for the solemnity of the promise!

The precious unity of marriage should be guarded with the utmost diligence. Never should it be spoken of facetiously. It is too valuable to fritter away in idle jesting. How many have wished, too late, that the first hint of separation have never been spoken!

Encircle the vital unity with protecting walls of love. Loving words. Loving deeds. Mutual thoughtfulness. Mutual tolerance. Mutual forgiveness. Above all, with a determination to stick together always, come what may. This way lies happiness.

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