THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF EVERY MARRIAGE- BY DAVE WILLIS

My kids have an ongoing project of building a fort in the empty lot next to our house. Almost every day after school, they’ll meet up and look for scrap materials to add to their beloved masterpiece. It’s nothing more than some old crates and cardboard stacked together, and every time a storm comes, the whole thing falls apart, and they have to start the entire process over again.

I’ve never been much help on the fort project because I’m terrible with tools. The boys wish I were better at construction, so I could help them build the fort; but my most valuable contribution thus far has been a single bit of engineering advice. I told them the fort was going to keep collapsing until they built it securely on a solid foundation.

Many marriages resemble that fort. Maybe there’s a lot of effort going into building the relationship, but it still seems to fall apart. A marriage can crumble because of a lack of effort, but in other cases, the relationship fails for the same reasons the boys’ fort kept collapsing. It’s built with the wrong tools and with no solid foundation.

Matthew 7:24-27 contains one of Jesus’ most famous teachings. He tells the story of a wise builder and a foolish builder. The wise builder took the time to build his house on a foundation of solid rock, while the foolish builder took the fast and easy route and built his house on sand.

From the outside, both houses looked the same, but the difference was revealed when a storm came. The house without a solid foundation collapsed. The house built on the rock stood firm.

When you read magazines and look at the examples of love in pop culture, it seems as though many people are content to build a relationship with no stable foundation. These shaky relationships are usually based on fickle feelings, codependent insecurities, mutual convenience, or lust. When the storms of life come, the relationships can’t survive.

The most solid relationships, however, are built on a foundation of love, and love is always built on a solid foundation of commitment. The strength of your commitment will always determine the strength of your relationship. If you want a marriage that will survive all the storms life throws your way, you need to build your relationship on a commitment to Jesus and a foundation of God’s word.

Ashley and I have made plenty of mistakes in our marriage, but one thing we’ve done wisely is to make God’s Word the foundation of our marriage and the final authority on every issue. When we got into a financial mess, it was the Bible’s financial instructions that helped us get debt free. When Ashley struggled with anxiety and depression, it was the Bible that ultimately helped her find peace. When I’ve struggled with issues like anger or pride or even my past sinful struggle with porn, it was God’s word that cleansed my mind and put me back on the right path.

I can’t overstate the importance of putting God’s word in your heart and mind daily. I truly believe it’s the single most valuable investment of time you can make and it will transform your marriage (and every other aspect of your life as well).

BLESSINGS...

DAVE WILLIS