Courage to Build Your Marriage on the Right Foundation By Gracious Akintayo
The three keys of a godly Marriage are: -Purpose, Passion, and Prosperity
The Bible says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6).
Marriage is destroyed for lack of knowledge. In present-day society, couples separate and divorce more quickly than you imagine, with broken homes becoming incessant. Marriage is now like cell phone service providers: You can interchange the SIM, and if you don’t like one service, switch to another.
The knowledge of the word and its power are significant ingredients missing in most marriages and homes.
“Therefore a man shall” “leave his father and mother and cleave” to his wife, they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
Most marriages fail due to couples’ lack of careful study and knowledge of this particular verse that primarily lays the foundation for any marital union – a man shall (you must not be a boy, but a man, and man enough to determined and take a decision of your own to follow divine direction and instruction, not someone opinion or suggestion), leave his father and mother and cleave (following your determination and decision, your destiny and future can no longer be directed nor regulated by your parent. Your life is no longer in your parents’ hands and care, but between you and the woman/man you found and chosen as a wife/husband, then with God. Neither your parents, families, relatives, and friends have interference and meddling in your choice and decision, except God), and they shall become one flesh (this coded mysterious calculation by God is unexplainable, and neither can any mortal solve it). The inside and outside of you must be one and reflect in your appearance, words, actions, and reactions. Apart from mutual understanding, you must live in one accord and agreement, and be united in every sphere of your life).
Leave and cleave to become one flesh – there shouldn’t be a room or a gap for intruders. You are to live in close knotty and be together in thought, words, and deeds without external influence.
One flesh is more than living in one room, sharing a house, having a joint bank account, wearing aso ebi, sleeping on the same bed, and eating together on one plate. It means both of you are dead to yourselves and now reportedly joined that nothing or anyone can come in between you. You will work it out even on your worst days because you are spiritually, physically, and mentally knitted.
With social media distractions and distortions, you should refrain from drawing marital advice from Facebook posts, an Instagram picture, or Twitter of a self-acclaimed celebrity couple. It should come from your knowledge of the word of God if you are to build your marriage on a solid foundation.
When the Word of God is paramount in a marriage, your home will be peaceful and orderly, you will be vital as a couple, your family will be happy, your union will be healthy, and you will be blissful, fruitful, and prosperous in your lives and endeavors.
The foundation of the Word is critical as Jesus illustrates, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
While the Bible says there is no other foundation, you can lay than that laid, which is Christ Jesus, no sacrifice than that which Christ has provided on the Cross, and no cornerstone put in place except Christ Jesus. (1 Corinthians 3:11, Hebrew 10:18, Ephesians 2:20)
When your marriage and family are built on the Word of God, when the rain, floods, and the winds of life come, your marriage will stand, though it may seem to shake. Your marriage may look good on paper; you may have the prettiest kids, a large house, and the finest cars. If your foundation is not on God’s word, nothing else can keep it strong. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul?” (Mark 8:36).
If you want your marriage and family to be strong, long-lasting, and legacy-making, with generational blessings (Proverbs 13:22), exchange the world’s way and embrace the Word’s way; forsake cultural and traditional counsels and accept and embrace spiritual guidance through godly counsel, the Holy Spirit, and the word of God. 
“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live. But for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
No doubt, storms will come, winds will blow, and floods will flow in your marriage and family, but “The good news is, storms will stop, winds will cease, and floods will end at some point.” (Isaiah 43:2)
Be Courageous to build! Only the wise build, but the foolish destroy. (Proverbs 14:1; Matt. 7:24)
