What I Learned in the First Year: Marriage is a Good Thing

Often it is the example of others that causes truths to stick into our hearts and minds. We can hear teaching all day long, but it is the real life testimonies of grace that cause us to see the teaching come alive. In God’s mercy I have been surrounded by many godly marriages. Whether it was through my parents, friends, or church family, I saw that godly marriages were possible and that they mattered. So I knew conceptually that marriage was a good thing. But one of the things I have learned even more fully this year is how good it really is.

God created marriage. He even declared that it was not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). So when he created the woman for the man it was finally declared good. When God joins a husband and wife together in a covenant of marriage we can declare, along with him, that what is happening before us is indeed very good.

One of the ways I have felt this goodness is through the complete fellowship Daniel and I share. We never tire of being together. After the Lord, he is the best part of my day—every day. Like I have said previously, God has used him in profound ways to sharpen me and push me towards greater holiness. This is all a part of the good design of marriage.

Marriage provides an outlet for safety and vulnerability that I have never known in any other human relationship. And this is all part of the good design.

When God created marriage he knew what he was doing. He knew of the deeper realities it was pointing to: the relationship between Christ and the Church. As a member of the Bride of Christ we too can know this safety and vulnerability with our Bridegroom, Christ. The fellowship I experience with Daniel is a mere shadow of the fellowship we both experience with our King. How kind of God to provide the shadow and the reality for us.

When I talk to godly couples who have been married for many years I am always encouraged by their positive thoughts on marriage: “It only gets better. Hold on when it gets hard. It will always get sweeter.” In those moments I get excited and hopeful, because most of the time I can’t imagine it getting much sweeter than this.