Counsels for the Church

The Privileges of Marriage

Those professing to be Christians should duly consider the result of every privilege of the marriage relation, and sanctified principle should be the basis of every action. CCh 133.6

In very many cases the parents have abused their marriage privileges, and by indulgence have strengthened their animal passions. CCh 133.7

[On another occasion Mrs. White speaks of the “privacy and privileges of the family relation.”] CCh 133.8

It is carrying that which is lawful to excess that makes it a grievous sin. CCh 134.1

Many parents do not obtain the knowledge that they should in the married life. They are not guarded lest Satan take advantage of them and control their minds and their lives. They do not see that God requires them to control their married lives from any excesses. But very few feel it to be a religious duty to govern their passions. They have united themselves in marriage to the object of their choice and, therefore, reason that marriage sanctifies the indulgence of the baser passions. Even men and women professing godliness give loose rein to their lustful passions and have no thought that God holds them accountable for the expenditure of vital energy, which weakens their hold on life and enervates the entire system. CCh 134.2