Marriage is a Beautiful Mystery

It is not good for man to be alone. God decided this before the ink dried when writing second chapter of Genesis was penned.  Genesis 2:18 

​Adam's socks were all over the Garden.  Dirty dishes were everywhere, and all man did was sit around watching ball games on TV telling knock knock jokes.. to himself. 

​Besides, Adam was not even using that rib.
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Note: It is not good for man to be alone?  Or is it not good for man to be 'unsupervised'? This question was raised by a reader the last time I posted this blog topic.

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So it was clear then and is now it was not good for man to be alone UNLESS his only choice is a described in Proverbs 21:19.. then God advises.. get a room on the second floor of a one story home.   The view is spectacular and the quiet is so .. quiet.

Of course there is  much more to be said about God's Gender Odd Couple (man & wife). Both common sense and God's word make this abundantly clear.  

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One of my favorite verses to take out of context is Ephesians 5:22 Wives SUBMIT to your husbands.  
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This is an annoying verse to my wife Mary when I take too long to pause and ponder this 'great' scripture without continuing to read the next 11 verses.  I even try to convince her that there are only 22 verses in Ephesians 5.  She is not amused proving women have no true sense of humor.

But when I get serious and take time to read Ephesians 5:21-33 in a modern translation like The Message (MSG) my smirky bell-ringing stereotype of 5:22 goes silent. 

21 Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

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22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The Husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

29-33 No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” 

This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.

There you have it, just like when Jesus taught us how to pray in 5 short verses (Mt 6:9-13), now Paul shares how to have a happy marriage in 13 short verses (Eph 5:21-33).  
This scripture of a good marriage does inspire me to love, cherish and appreciate my wife, BUT I also do see in verse 32 Paul admits.. This is a huge mystery and I don't pretend to understand. Well Paul, welcome to my Marriage Mystery Club with a membership of about a BA-ZILLION!

Marriage truly is a beautiful mystery though our different emotional and processing 'wiring' often do create a few sparks.  Just know even in the best of marriages you can count on your share of misunderstandings, hurt feelings, disagreements, a few tears, and if looks could kill..
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​I WOULD BE DEAD 1000 times over! ​

​​In the end most days most of us both love our spouse to death, and are scratching our heads wondering what planet they are from.

May God bless each of you that are married with spouses that are described in Eph 5:21-33, and not Proverbs 21:19.  

​Jeff

final note: It has been a tough year for me physically (3 surgeries, and a hospital stay) and.. I turn 65 shortly. BUT in this year of pondering life I thank God to have been involved in this beautiful mystery with my beautiful wife for almost 38 years. I truly thank God for my wife as she is the blessing to me that I truly cherish.

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