Protect your marriage from these attacks
It’s no secret. Your marriage is under attack. You’ve experienced Satan‘s subtle whispers in your ear about your spouse. You’ve seen conflict erupt when you least expected it. You have felt the underlying tension and you haven’t understood why it is there. Your marriage has faced temptations, struggles, and a slow drift away from God.
It’s no secret. Your marriage is under attack. You’ve experienced Satan‘s subtle whispers in your ear about your spouse. You’ve seen conflict erupt when you least expected it. You have felt the underlying tension and you haven’t understood why it is there. Your marriage has faced temptations, struggles, and a slow drift away from God.
Why doesn’t he just leave you alone? Why is there an ongoing attack against your marriage—and Christian marriages in general? When we recognize the reasons for the attack, we can better deploy the spiritual weapons at our disposal through Jesus. Take heart, the war has already been won on the cross and through the resurrection of Christ, but there are still battles being waged.
Jesus said that the “thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10a). That’s Satan’s nature and his personal mission. With that understanding, here are five reasons the Enemy wants your marriage to fail:
1. He hates Jesus
Satan is a conquered foe. He wanted the glory of God for himself (see Isaiah 14:12-14, Luke 10:18). But instead, he was cast from heaven and conquered by Jesus through the resurrection. He is literally hell-bent on doing what he can to keep God’s work from expanding. Revelation 12:12 says that “He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short.”
2. He hates Jesus in you
You have what Satan wanted. This is important to understand. As a Christ-follower, you have Jesus in you and you are increasingly reflecting God’s glory. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
While he cannot take away your relationship with Jesus, he hates that you belong to Jesus and is working hard to tarnish the glory of God in you. The Enemy wants you to be ineffective, unfruitful, prideful and self-centered. Who you are will impact how you engage with your spouse. This is why your personal focus has to be on growing in your relationship with Jesus. As you do, you’ll be stronger against the enemy and more successful in your marriage.
3. He hates Jesus at the center of your marriage
Your marriage is a picture to a watching world of Jesus’ relationship with the church (Ephesians 5:22-33). ANYTHING that pulls you and your spouse away from keeping Jesus at the center of your marriage will work. Understand, this is NOT a salvation issue, this is a priority issue.
When work, children, materialism, self-focus, pride, friends, or anything else takes precedence over your shared relationship with Jesus and growth in him, those things have diminished the potency of your marriage for Christ. Satan will use good things to draw you away from the One who is best for your marriage. It’s the slow drift away from Jesus as the anchor that ultimately shipwrecks a marriage.
4. He hates your children
Satan doesn’t know the future. He’s not all-knowing. However, he DOES know the impact of a godly family. He doesn’t want your children to be raised in a Christ-centered home by a mom and dad who model a godly marriage. He will do what he can to stunt their growth in Christ through the pain of a broken home. If he can succeed in that, then he will be able to prevent the next generation from building Christ-centered marriages.
Some of you may have been through a broken marriage and have since remarried. Please know that God is big enough to bring healing to your children’s lives through Jesus. God specializes in taking the worst the Enemy creates and turns it around into something magnificent for His Kingdom. So take heart that he can do the same with your children as well!
5. He hates your potential impact for Jesus
A Christ-centered marriage that weathers the highs and lows of life, that perseveres and triumphs for Jesus is becoming increasingly rare. Your potential impact for Jesus in raising a godly next generation, becoming a prayerful powerhouse, edifying your local church family, and influencing those around for Christ is immense. Satan knows that and wants to destroy your impact.
Knowing Satan’s focus of hatred motivates each Christ-centered couple to stay on their knees and pray for God’s protection for their marriage and family. As a couple, you choose to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). You encourage each other’s growth in Christ and you make sure you don’t let other “priorities” encroach on your greatest relationship, the one you have with Jesus.
Build Your Marriage was established with the mission to “Help couples build a Christ-centered marriage.” As you take your stand against the Enemy and for Jesus, you will be on YOUR mission to build your marriage!