A Heart Worth Entering Heaven

When marriage becomes too much work and effort or it doesn’t meet our expectations, divorce has become the logical answer. When in reality, divorce is highly illogical, especially between Christians. Yes, marriage is hard work, but something great has been entrusted to us. We have been given the high honor and responsibility, in holy matrimony, to reflect the Trinity. Is that so far-fetched? After all, we were made in Their image. Let us make man in our image, in our likeness… (Ge 1:26).

With God’s blueprints in hand, we have the exciting opportunity to build an institute more powerful, more beautiful, more gratifying, and has better fringe benefits than any other institute in the world. God has provided all the materials we need to build a successful marriage – love, kindness, humility, patience, prayers, and sacrifice.

Marriage is character building; nothing else will ever challenge you to be fair when something unfair has been done to you like marriage will. Nothing else will challenge you to give up your right to be right like marriage will. Nothing else will bring you face to face with the ugliness that so subtly resides in you like marriage will. Nothing else can purge you of selfishness like marriage can. Nothing else will ever bring out the very best in you like a godly marriage has the power of accomplishing. But, the question is, can the marriage survive the process?

To get to the best, we have to go through the worse. Marriage can survive if you can remember the part of the marriage vow that says for worse. For worse, was not put in the vows because it made for a good poetic stanza. Watch this, “for better, for worse” – two extremes at opposite ends of the spectrum. You have to understand what has been done here, a foundation has been laid that captures all possibilities, "for richer, for poorer" and "in sickness and in health" – no matter the condition or circumstances. Folks, this is a tough proposition! And in life, anything can happen to any of us at any time. God challenges us to count the cost before we take the vows.

Luke 14:28-30 says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, this person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.” Your marriage vows, my dear loves, are the marriage’s foundation laid by God. Did you count the cost before you started to build on the foundation? The foundation is meant to last, and we must build lasting walls on that foundation. Sadly, this is the work that far too many of us cannot finish.

The walls of a city in the bible were vital, it was a disgrace to the people and to God when the walls were in ruin. Nehemiah wept (Ne 1:4) when he found out the walls of his beloved Jerusalem lie in ruin. He made it a point to go there and oversee the rebuilding of the city walls (Ne 2:11-19).

God gives us a foundation, but it is up to us to build the walls. At the same time as they rebuilt the city walls, the people of Jerusalem had to also watch for the enemy. They had to be prepared to fight the enemy and build the walls (Ne 4:16-19) at the same time, are we expected to do any less? Do you really think you’re going to build a marriage in peace? Satan knows if you finish building the walls of your marriage upon God’s foundation, he’ll be shut out. Consequently, he does everything he can to stop you while you’re in the building process. Your job is to watch for the enemy, as you build, and be prepared to fight, not each other, but the enemy.

Marriage is going to cost you something. Can you finish what you started? If not, don’t start because for all intent and purposes, you will have unfinished work. There will indeed be some ridicule, oh you say you don’t care because no one has walked in your shoes. I can say, “You are wrong.” Anyone who has been married for more than five to ten years, nine out of ten of them have walked in your shoes. They know how hard it is to build a successful marriage, but they will tell you, as I am telling you, “Don’t give up.”