5 Benefits of Christian Marriage
Marriage is God’s idea in the beginning. At the garden of Eden, He gave the first man, Adam a suitable partner whom he called woman and the two became one flesh (Genesis 2: 18-24). The first couple partnered with God to govern His creation. In a wider picture, the relationship of God to His church mirrors marriage. Christ is the groom, and the church is His bride.
Jesus Christ is the head of the church as the husband is the head of the family in marriage. From Him, we have received the priceless gift of salvation and eternal life.
There are many beneficial factors that a couple gains from their marriage. We asked some married Christian couples we know, and we came up with five general benefits of marriage.
A suitable helper is found through marriage.
God finally revealed the first man’s appropriate helper – a woman. God did not create the woman from ground, but she was created in a special way. She was formed out from one of the man’s ribs located on his side. Such a wonderful design that represents the position of the man and woman in marriage – side-by-side to each other. As man pursues the work that God has assigned to Him, he has the woman’s support all along.
Then the man said, “At last, here is one of my own kind
Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh.
‘Woman’ is her name because she was taken out of man. (Genesis 2:23)
It was made possible for a man to have a home and raise a family because of his wife. They can raise godly children. In our time, the women have gained independence and equality with men in areas of career and opportunities. Working women have been a great help to their husband by contributing to the finances of their family while keeping the home and the children well cared of.
Spiritual benefits of marriage
Jesus Christ loved the church so deeply that He lay down His own life to save her. In Ephesians 5:25-26, husbands are reminded to love their wives in the same manner as Jesus loved His church.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, (Ephesians 5:25-26).
Adam, the fallen man, is quick to blame the woman for giving him the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that caused him to disobey God (Genesis 3). However, a Christ-redeemed man should draw his wife closer to the Lord, by giving her the Word of God that separates her from sin and frees her from guilt. Thus, the husband has the accountability for his wife’s conduct towards the Lord. When a Christian husband loves his wife as Christ does for the church, then he is concerned of her holiness before God.
Health benefits of marriage
In Ephesians 5:28, man should love his wife as his own body. Nurturing towards good health and longer life together is one of the goals of married couples.
In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (Ephesians 5:28)
A spouse can be a great encouragement to achieve health and fitness goals. Unlike when one is single, there could be endless days of partying with friends and unhealthy lifestyle. Marriage gives a sense of belongingness to one’s spouse and family and not anymore to friends. The resolve to consider the spouse’s agreement when socializing comes naturally due to love and respect.
Spouses give stable support during trying times. A study published in January 2021 (Ding, Z., Yu, D., Li, H. et al. Effects of marital status on overall and cancer-specific survival in laryngeal cancer patients: a population-based study), concluded that marital status was associated with survival rates of laryngeal cancer patients; married patients have better prognosis compared to widowed patients.
Marriage can lead to a satisfying life
Men prioritize their personal goals differently than women. However, they both consider financial security as number one goal before anything else. Women consider marriage at higher priority more than men do and both anticipate their wedding day differently.
Women are more excited and happy days before their wedding while men tend to be happier after their wedding. Most men choose lifestyle that promotes good health days before the wedding while women build too many expectations erstwhile their wedding day. Yet after the wedding day, most men return to their old habits and women become more disappointed for unfulfilled expectations.
Men finally realized what a blessing his wife is to him after their wedding day. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord (Proverbs 18:22). Woman’s nature is to nurture and care for her husband and certainly she will do him good. Having a spouse who understands you and supports your success is indeed a favor from God.
Despite the differences between two unique individuals, marriage unites them as one. It may not be an instant and constant consensus on a lot of things but, as time goes, they learn each other’s ways and personalities and meet halfway for both their happiness.
Years into their marriage, they become inseparable and intimate, like a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). To the wife, she will feel secured and less worried about the future while with her husband who can provide for her. To hold their newborn children as they become parents is a great joy.
More goals are achieved by married couples
Although single people may still achieve their personal goals and spend a satisfying life, married couples can achieve bigger goals outside themselves including raising their children and supporting them till they are able to provide for themselves and their own family.
A single person in the mid of his or her life is often flooded with questions about his or her future and may feel discouraged to continue pursuing more accomplishment. However, to the married, they have children dependent to them so, they have to keep on earning and find ways to make their family’s life better. With each other, a married couple can keep discouragements at bay and easier to recover after cruel blows in life.
And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12).
Marriage is beneficial for the couple as they find deep friendship, partnership, encouragement in faith, helper, protector, provider, support, nurture, love, and respect from each other. With their union they can strengthen each other’s faith, raise godly children, achieve greater goals, and experience happiness and satisfaction in life.
