{"id":11223,"date":"2024-06-17T13:58:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T13:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=11223"},"modified":"2024-06-17T14:01:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T14:01:04","slug":"lets-celebrate-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=11223","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Celebrate Marriage!"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wifamilycouncil.org\/radio\/lets-celebrate-marriage\/<\/a><\/p>\n

2024 | Week of June 17 | Radio Transcript #1571<\/h3>\n

Marriage is the institution that is the foundation of the family and of society. Its stability is basic to morality and civilization, and of vital interest to the society and the state. <\/em><\/p>\n

That sounds like something you\u2019d hear from a pulpit or read in a Wisconsin Family Council press release or legislative memo. It\u2019s something we could all agree on\u2014the importance of marriage to every aspect of society. Would you believe our very own State Legislature wrote this statement?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually part of the \u201cintent\u201d clause opening the Wisconsin Family Code, dozens of state statutes on marriage and family that make up Chapter 765 of the Wisconsin Statutes. The State Legislature wanted to make it crystal clear that the related statutes were necessary in order to protect marriage and family in Wisconsin. They recognized their responsibility to uphold the institution of marriage for the civil good of society.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a good thing they did because as marriage and family go, so goes the state. The institution of marriage pre-dates government. The state didn\u2019t create the institution of marriage; God did. God also has some things to say about the importance of marriage. And what God\u2019s says about this institution is just a little more passionate, motivating, and meaningful than the intent clause of Chapter 765.<\/p>\n

What is God\u2019s intent for marriage? Like the story of salvation, this divine intent woven throughout the Scriptures, beginning with The Ultimate Beginning, Creation. Genesis 1:27 says that God created male and female in His Own Image. The man and the woman, together, constitute an earthly representation of God\u2019s image. Genesis chapter 2:24 says, \u201c[A] man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.\u201d\u00a0 Similar to the mystery of the Trinity, the married man and woman are one.<\/p>\n

In Ephesians 5:31 and 32, Paul quotes Genesis 2:24, adding, \u201cThis mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.\u201d Marriage also illustrates the relationship between Christ, the divine Groom, and His Bride, the Church. The implications here are tremendous.<\/p>\n

Marriage is the first institution God created and His intent for it is rich, full of meaning, both practical and marvelous. As the Bride of Christ, the Church has a very important responsibility to uphold, preserve and champion the institution of marriage as God designed it\u2014one man and one woman for life. That\u2019s the gold standard for marriage, but because we live in a fallen world it\u2019s not always the reality.<\/p>\n

This is where the Church comes in. It\u2019s why we over the years have encouraged pastors and churches to make June Marriage Month, a time to promote and champion marriage in their congregation and community. We can\u2019t guarantee the gold standard for everyone, but what we can do, as a Christian community, is give people the information, training, resources, and help they need to make wise decisions about marriage.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in a fallen world divorce is part of marriage. While it\u2019s true that the number of divorces in Wisconsin has been dropping, that\u2019s largely because our marriage rate has been falling. We need to increase the marriage rate, while keeping the divorce rate low. Did you know that solid pre-marital counseling and attending church together regularly as a couple, actually significantly increase the chances a marriage will last?<\/p>\n

This is what people need to hear. They also need to understand God\u2019s design for marriage so they can understand why it\u2019s the best way. We have the wonderful message that marriage can work and that it\u2019s the best possible situation for a man and a woman and the best environment in which to raise their children.<\/p>\n

Yes, the state has a responsibility to promote and preserve marriage. But the Church has an even greater responsibility. As the Bride of Christ, we have a message about fulfillment, love, and commitment that the world is desperate to hear. As we close out the month of June, I encourage you again to take some time to promote marriage in your church by hosting a date-night for couples, focusing on marriage in your Bible studies, and asking your pastor to preach on the importance of marriage and in other ways champion marriage. It\u2019s time to focus on God\u2019s intent for marriage because it\u2019s good for everyone.<\/p>\n

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you that God, through the Prophet Hosea, said, \u201cMy people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more at WIFamilyCouncil.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/wifamilycouncil.org\/radio\/lets-celebrate-marriage\/ 2024 | Week of June 17 | Radio Transcript…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wfc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11224,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11223\/revisions\/11224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}