Hebrews 13:4-6 Strengthening Love

In a chapter of conclusion, the writer of Hebrews gives a set of relationships we should honor.

HONORING OUR RELATIONSHIPS

Christians Strangers (13:1-2)

Outcast (13:3)

Marriage partner (13:4-6)

Christian leaders (13:7-17)

Christian Friends (13:18-19)

Respect your marriage.

RESULT: Accountability

THREE REASONS TO RESPECT MARRIAGE

Respect marriage because it teaches me accountability to my partner (marital accountability) (13:4a)
Respect marriage as God designed it, because it teaches me to be accountable to Him (personal accountability) (13:4b)

Respect marriage as God provided for it, because it teaches me responsibility (financial accountability (13:5)

Keep the bed pure

Co-Habitation – sharing the bed with someone before marriage

Pornography – sharing the mind bed after marriage with someone/thing else

Adultery – sharing someone else’s bed after marriage (unfaithfulness)

Live within your means

PROBLEM: Love of money

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

(1 Timothy 6:10 HCSB)

ANSWER: Be satisfied

Materialism is an enemy of the family. Materialism is loving money and things. You should love God and people, and use money and things; not love money and things and use God and people.

Richness and poorness are relative terms. We are all richer than some people are. But we want to be richer. When one wants to be richer and have more, and gets into debt to do it, it will cause trouble in the family. Debt is a crisis that the family cannot afford.

Trust God with whom He has given you.

God wants you to trust Him with everything you need. Sometimes it can be financial. But in a marriage relationship, you have to learn to trust God. If He put you in this marriage relationship, then He will see you through it.

Marriage is built on trust. Our spiritual marriage to God is built upon trust. We have to trust that whomever God has called us to for marriage, God will help us through it. God will never leave you, although maybe a person has. In the same way, you learn from God that you never leave or forsake the person God has called for you to marry.

Marriage reflects our relationship with God. There are spiritual truths we learn through marriage. One of these truths that God teaches us to use in our marriage is this:

Trust – Just as our relationship to God is built upon trust, our relationship to our marriage partner is based upon trust. So we have to learn to trust our spouse. Trust them with decisions. Trust them with finances. Trust them with ourselves.

Love – If the first thing is trust, then the second is love. You can love someone you trust. But love will never develop with someone you don’t trust. So if your marriage is in danger, you have to learn to trust that person again. You do that by giving and taking.

You learn to give. Your partner learns to take what you give.

I give of my time.
I give of my effort.
I give of my self

God is your helper. He will teach you how to learn to love your partner again.

Responsibility – Responsibility is the act of saying I will “take care” of the other person.

I will not think about myself before I think about my partner. You learn to take. Your partner learns to accept what responsibility you took.

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash