OSNOVA®

We asked Todd Wright, the author of ‘Marriages That Glorify God’ and the founder of Wright Ministries, to write a guest post for our blog.

Todd holds a Master of Science Degree in Counseling and Guidance and has been a Licensed Professional Counselor for 18 years. Todd’s wife Fonny (who is also a Licensed Professional Counselor holding a Master of Arts Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling, and a Master of Arts Degree in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is an active part of Wright Ministries, whose mission is to bring glory to God through the building up of believers through marital counseling.

We were created to bring glory to God, and marriage is a primary means by which believers are able to bring glory to God.  Unfortunately, bringing “glory to God” is not the objective of every Christian marriage. The goal for many couples is happiness and joy, and this goal is unfortunately supported by much of the literature focused on the subject.  When we make personal happiness our number one goal, it conflicts with the reason we are here.  Therefore, it is necessary to re-visit why we are here and ensure the goals for our marriages are equal to God’s goals for our marriages.

“Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”  (Isaiah 43:7)

From Isaiah we learn each of us was created for His glory.  God did not create us for our own glory, we were created for His glory.

“The people whom I formed for Myself, Will declare My praise.”  (Isaiah 43:21)

As believers we are to “declare” praise for our Lord.  It is difficult, if not impossible to do so when all our energy is directed towards our own personal happiness.  Declare praise for our Lord and use the sounding board of your marriage to do it.

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:36

To God be the glory forever. You have a better chance at accomplishing this goal when it is an objective of your marriage. A secondary benefit for believers who bring glory to God is satisfaction and joy which come from bringing glory to God. When personal joy is the number one goal, we may find temporary satisfaction, but we have failed to bring glory to God.

Once we have made “bringing glory to God” the goal for our marriages, the next question is how to accomplish this mission.  For the most part, believers know to sing praises to God, attend church, fellowship with other believers, and spend time in prayer.  What is most often neglected is spiritual growth.  The Father is glorified when His children develop spiritually and spiritual growth comes by means of consistent intake of the Word of God.

We must ask ourselves, “how successful can we expect our marriages to be when we as believers neglect a daily study of the Word of God?”  Issues with Christian marriages are well documented. The books, magazine articles, and blogs which attempt to correct all that is wrong with this most sacred institute from God are just as plentiful. But how many of these works emphasize a systematic study of the Scriptures? How many emphasize the importance of  replacing our own faulty thinking with God’s perfect divine viewpoint on marriage?

“To whom would He teach knowledge?  And to whom would He interpret the message?  Those just weaned from milk?  Those just taken from the breast?  For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.’”  Isaiah 28:9-10

This passage in Isaiah instructs believers on how to systematically study the Scriptures, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line”.  The doctrines taught in the Bible build on one another, and so as believers we mature as we build knowledge of the scriptures in our souls.  The result is spiritual maturity.  Isaiah 28 is one of the passages which speak of immature baby believers.  Why are they not as mature?  What do they need to mature spiritually?  They need to be taught the Word of God in a systematic way and they need to study the Word of God in a systematic way – order on order, line on line, a little here, a little there.  To make the point perfectly clear the message is repeated word for word just a few verses later. If God is going to repeat the message, we should assume it is important.

“So the word of the LORD to them will be, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,’” Isaiah 28:13a

Married couples who bring glory to God are couples who mature spiritually by systematically studying the Bible.  An organized study of the Bible is not accomplished by simply reading the Bible.  There is nothing wrong with reading the Bible cover to cover and in fact I would encourage you to do this at least once.  But the doctrines of the Bible can be easily organized in such a way as to be studied as described in the scriptures.  There are a plethora of study aides available to guide believers through personal study of the Bible.  These study aides are more than inspirational works.  Once you learn to study the Bible in an organized fashion you will find all the inspiration you need.  For a list of recommended study guides, feel free to contact Wright Ministries at (817) 271-4495 or by email at Todd@wrightministries.com

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15