3. Be mindful of the influences you allow to shape your thinking. Are you regularly watching movies and shows that glorify fornication and adultery? Are you reading novels that romanticize infidelity? Avoid such influences, and do so relentlessly. In Mark 9:43, Jesus exhorts us in graphic terms, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.” I take that to mean, “If the romantic drama or sensual images are causing you to stumble, do what you can to cut them out of your life.”
Garden Your Marriage
1. Cling to God’s promises. Yes, there are scary warnings in the Bible, and also glorious promises. For instance, Jesus promises in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
2. Talk, talk, talk with your spouse. Remember when you and your spouse were first dating? Remember the curiosity and inquisitiveness? Work to keep that alive. I am fascinated again and again by the new things I see and learn about my wife. We’ve been married for 15 years, but I’m still getting to know her.
3. Date your spouse. To foster those quality conversations, keep dating. Especially with kids, it’s essential to set aside time for undistracted, face-to-face interaction. Find enjoyable activities to do together. Try new experiences. Make new memories. Laugh a lot together.
4. Study and review God’s beautiful design for marriage. I believe the most powerful step Christians can take to strengthen their marriages is to deepen their understanding of what God intends marriage to be, and what he intends marriage to point to. This reality draws us outside of ourselves into something divine, something eternal—because the intimate union of a husband and wife in marriage was created by God to be a picture of Christ’s relationship to the church (Ephesians 5:32).
In light of this truth, and in the midst of a culture that tragically diminishes the sacredness of marriage, Christians should yearn for their marriages to be a compelling gospel parable.
Don’t fall for the Ashley Madison lie, or others like it. Yes, life is short; don’t waste it on short-lived highs that will leave you lower than you began. Take the necessary steps in your own life to affair-proof your marriage, as much as possible, for the glory of Christ.
Let the Ashley Madison leak and lies inspire you to both guard your marriage and cultivate the garden.
