Build Your Marriage Upon the Rock

“Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”

Matthew 7:24-25

I happened upon this parable today and it immediately made me think of an exercise that we did at my elementary school. My teacher set up two buckets — one with a toy house on a sturdy slab of stone, and the other with a toy house on a well-packed hill of sand. We were asked what we thought would happen when she poured a cup of water on each house. We watched as the sand caved in and flooded and the house fell and was swallowed by the mess. When water was poured over the house on the rock, it was unmoved. 

The lesson of the parable is that if we listen to Christ, the foundation of our lives will be strong, so when tragedy and disaster and suffering and hard times come into our lives, we will remain steadfast. 

But can’t we also apply this parable to our relationships as husband and wife? If our relationship is strong, then even things that might shake us up will not cause our house to cave in. Even when we face tragedy and disaster and suffering, we will be unmoved from our marriage with each other. Our relationship is strong, so our marriage is strong, so the world cannot break it apart.

That’s why Covenant is here. The secular world says that engagement the time to plan the wedding. While this is true, that should not be the entire focus of an engagement period. Covenant’s goal is not to get every engaged couple to the altar — it is not sinful for an engaged couple to break up, but it is impossible for a valid marriage to end — but to encourage and support strong relationships and thus strong marriages. 

Engagement should be a season of building that relationship and looking toward what your specific marriage will look like. It should be on learning habits now of honoring and respecting each other so much that sleepless nights and sickness and differences of opinion do not threaten the integrity of your marriage. It should be a time for discerning exactly what sort of things you and your partner need to be for each other to walk the path to heaven together. 

Marriage is a beautiful forever. Marriage is an earthly reflection of the faithful and eternal love that God has for his people, and the self-sacrificing love that Christ has for his Church. Satan wants nothing more than to tear that apart. Build your relationship into a sturdy rock so that nothing he throws at it can make it fall.

If you’re engaged, please take the time to support your future marriage, especially this week. If you’re married, please show your spouse just how much you love and honor them this National Marriage Week.

Please pray for me and my marriage. I’ll be praying for you!

xoxo,
Marissa @ Covenant Co.