October 4: GROWING OLD TOGETHER

Maybe something good is about to happen if we listen to the teenagers. What may seem like an old-fashioned concept in the age in which we live, surprisingly reflects what many teens are thinking. A survey of teenagers (by George Barna) found that one of their highest-rated goals for the future was to “get married and have the same spouse for their entire life.” Imagine being a kid whose parent or parents have been married several times or had a series of live-in lovers and never knew how to sort out the adults around them. So now the teenagers want what God planned without even realizing it. Good for them!
This would be a good time of the year to teach Biblical truth about families since the television seems to have more programs than usual that put down monogamous marriage. I just heard a famous star say yesterday that “spiritual marriages would be the wave of the future.” Spiritual marriages defined as living with someone who allowed you to realize your full potential. Parents and grandparents: it would be very easy for you to apologize to your offspring for not teaching them the truth about Biblical marriage, even though it was unintentional. It could give you a “teachable moment” with them.
Teach them the most basic truth of marriage from the Bible: Genesis 2:24 (NIV) “for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be untied to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
Urge them to have Biblically-based pre-marital counseling so they can build their marriage on a firm foundation. Help them to see that you can’t build a lasting marriage on fluctuating emotions. Jesus warned of the danger of building a house on the sand without any foundation. (Matthew 7:24-29) If it is true of a house, it is surely true of a marriage. People get married for a lot of reasons, not all good, maybe you did. If you have now seen the light point your children in that direction. “The rain came down, the wind blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall.” Jesus is the Rock to be your marriage foundation.

“Dear God, we know that marriage for life was your idea for the safety
and security of the couple as well as their children. What a truth! Amen”