My Journey to Life - Daily Study Guide

Q5. What does God’s ideal marriage look like?

Picture: Q5. What does God’s ideal marriage look like? JTLD 195.1

The Scripture is determinative: “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife” (Genesis 2:24). The bond and interdependence of the married couple supersede all other earthly relationships. God intended for the couple to depend most deeply on the affirmation and reassurance that they receive from each other. Both should preserve the sanctity of the family circle and not confide the faults of their spouse to any outside party. (Exceptions to this principle apply to professional counselors, in circumstances of abuse, mental illness, and dysfunctions in a marriage or family.) JTLD 195.2

God intends marriage to be a lifelong monogamous union, representing the faithfulness of God to His people. A couple’s unity involves not only physical fusion but also emotional and spiritual union. Christian couples understand that in marrying, they have covenanted to be faithful to each other for as long as they both live. JTLD 195.3

• Bible Discovery: Genesis 2:23; Isaiah 50:1; 54:5; Malachi 2:16; 2 Corinthians 6:14
• Further Reading: Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home, p. 177.1