Satan’s Marriage Dance!
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
Teaching recently, I wondered how odd this lesson about Satan must sound to those who do not know or love the Lord. It may even sound harsh to those Christians who do not know their Bibles. Satan is a hard reality of life in a fallen world.
1 John 3:10 teaches a difficult truth: it says, “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”
The Bible specifically teaches that Satan is a tempter (Matthew 4:3), an accuser (Revelation 12:10), a deceiver (Genesis 3:1-5), and a devourer (1 Peter 5:8). He can take what God meant to be good in this life and turn it into something that brings pain, sorrow, and deception.
This seems especially true with marriage. God created the family as His structure for our societies. There have been many studies done and published comparing the “success” of the child raised in the two-parent, intact family, and the child of a single-parent home because of divorce. The children in the two-parent homes are typically more religious, less involved with drugs and alcohol, fewer teenage pregnancies, and better academic success. This is not to say that a child from a single parent home can’t be successful or faithful, nor that every child from a two-parent family will be.
What I wonder about is how Satan is involved in the day to day of our marriages. One thing I am sure of is that he wants to deceive our next generation about marriage.
We have gotten so caught up in living in the world that many people in intact marriages are no less stressed than those single mothers or fathers. How can a family live in peace with the push on our children to be involved in everything offered and the demand on our finances to own the big home, the new cars, and the place at the shore?
We’re either rushing along to the next event or spending too much time at the office (so we can make all the payments), that marriage and family life have taken a back seat.
Satan must be dancing a jig!
You and I may be lost to him – already won to Christ and a part of the kingdom of God. But, if he can make marriage look so miserable that the next generation doesn’t want anything to do with it, or our Biblical commitment to it, that’s a coup for Satan!
Many Christians live in very committed marriages. Divorce or separation is never an option. But, women sometimes describe their marriage saying, “We’re both so busy, we’re like ships that pass in the night.” If that is how the adults feel, how must the children feel about the time they get with their parents, and why bother with marriage?
More for Satan to celebrate.
I would rather know that my kids are happy with my marriage than think that Satan is dancing because of it.
Who has more reason to celebrate our marriages? Our children or Satan?
I love serving Jesus Christ as one who “feeds His sheep”. It is my desire to teach God’s Word diligently, with reverence and awe for the Source of the truths I teach, and with an engaging, and sometimes witty, delivery so that the hearers will not just listen but do what it says.
- For Our Good - February 12, 2020
- Future Benefits - January 8, 2020
- Attention Getting Behavior - October 16, 2019
Without intentionality, I think what you write is so very on point! Intentionally finding time. Intentionally saying ‘no’ to things that interfere. Intentionally making family time first. Even if Satan isn’t the mastermind of this, he is certainly still dancing a jig when it happens. It certainly sounds like something CS Lewis would have written in Screwtape Letters – “let them think that all is ok even when they spend no time together.”
Thank you for the wisdom in this post. The fight for a marriage, or a healthy friendship, or healthy, life-giving relationships with our families are under attack, whether we acknowledge it or not. This is why our world can seem so tough, imho. Appreciate the recommendation to slow down and protect and maintain what needs protecting and maintaining.
In this world of me, me me, it has become increasingly difficult for the institution of marriage to survive. I appreciate your speaking out for the support of marriage, which, as you state, strengthens the family in measurable ways. And in turn, strengthens the society at large. We need more people promoting the protection of marriage, and helping people to get through the times when marriage is not the fairy tale ending!
Thanks for this post, Becky. I absolutely thinking the enemy is making a concerted effort to undermine marriage. The statistics (40-50% of marriages in the US will end in divorce)certainly support that premise. We absolutely need to guard our marriages and pray for the marriages of our family and friends.