Advent is a word meaning “toward
the arrival.” For hundreds of years, Christians have observed it as a way
of celebrating Christ’s arrival and preparing for his next coming. Advent began this past Sunday, December 3, and goes through Christmas Eve.
Whether you formally celebrate
it or not, Advent has powerful implications for marriage. You see, if you
are a Christian and you are called to marriage, then God expects you to use your
marriage as a way of bringing glory and honor to him. He expects your
marriage to reflect your love for God and your love for others who are made in
the image of God. Christian marriage is not supposed to look like secular
marriage with some “Christian window dressing.” If the only difference
between your marriage and the non-Christian couple next door is that you go to
church on Sunday, you’ve missed the point of what God is trying to do through
you and your spouse together for the sake of his Kingdom.
That being said, how does your marriage reflect the hope and joy of Christ’s
presence in your covenant relationship? How does the most significant
event in human history, God becoming flesh and living among us, change the way
you love, honor, respect, and give of yourself for your spouse? What does
it mean to your marriage that in the person of Jesus Christ, “God made his
dwelling among us”? (John 1:14) How does the light of his presence in
your marriage penetrate the darkness of this fallen world that is trying to
overtake your union?
As we look forward to Christ’s return, does your marriage point others toward
the time when all things will be made new? Do they see the love,
goodness, grace, redemption, and forgiveness in you that gives glimpses of the
final eternal Kingdom to come?
The Advent season is upon us, so use this time of celebration and observance to
renew your commitment to Christ and to your marriage. Give thanks for
God’s presence in this world and in your marriage, as we anxiously await
Christ’s return.
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