Partners for Life: Bible Verses on Love and Marriage

When He was asked what the greatest command in the whole of Scripture was, Jesus answered that it all hangs on love. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV). All that we do in life ought to revolve and flow from loving God and our neighbor. This applies to marriage as well as to any other relationship.

Together, for life.

Marriage brings two people and binds them together for life. Though we decide to get married, it’s God who is joining the two and making them one flesh. Jesus reminds us of this profound reality when He was responding to a question about divorce by saying:

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” – Matthew 19:4-6, NIV

The marriage bond should not be dissolved by us because God designed marriage to be permanent from the beginning. Marriage is bigger than us; it is a symbol of how Christ loves and cleaves to His Church.

Pondering the same verses from Genesis 2, Paul writes “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32, NIV) Marriage points to and is a symbol of how Christ relates to His Church, making marriage a high calling for those that enter it.

Marriage can be hard.

Living with another sinful human being for the rest of your life is hard. Your worst qualities can become like a constant dripping that wears patience thin and erodes goodwill. The Bible speaks to this too:

A foolish child is a father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof. – Proverbs 19:13, NIV

Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife. – Proverbs 21:19, NIV

The setting of Proverbs as words from a father to a son ought to help us interpret these words. Men can nag and quarrel as well as anyone else, and they aren’t off the hook.

Marriage can be challenging because of circumstances, but God offers us wisdom:

Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 9:9, ESV

Life under the sun can be hard to grasp or make sense of but enjoying one’s spouse is an anchor amid shifting tides.

Working through marriage woes.

Marriage isn’t easy, and you can go through seasons of fallow when the last thing you feel like is loving each other. You might be miscommunicating, or you’ve lost your intimacy and trust in the relationship.

You should consider getting help from a marriage and family therapist. They can help you unpack and understand the dynamics in your marriage, as well as provide you with tools for effective communication, goal setting, and rebuilding intimacy. Reach out today and make an appointment to begin rebuilding your marriage.