If you are interested in marriage Bible verses it's probably for one of a few reasons:

1. you would like to know how God feels about marriage?
   
2. you would like to enhance your marriage and are seeking answers in the Bible
3. you are experiencing troubles in your marriage and are seeking answers in the Bible

I would like to start off by saying that this Hub about marriage Bible verses is not meant to condemn you, but rather convict you. I myself have been filled with a spirit of conviction in regards to my own marriage. It's always been easiest for me to point the finger at others and blame them for problems in our relationships. But, the other day, when I was thinking about it, God showed me that while I am so busy pointing my finger at others, 3 are pointing right back at me!

Marriage is a sacred union between man and woman before God, at least that's the way it was intended. But, so often, we don't realize how much work really needs to go into making a marriage successful.

Even if you are madly in love with your spouse and would never want to hurt them, the reality is that you often hurt the ones you love and most times don't even realize it. If you are experiencing troubles in your marriage (even if you aren't, this is a good thing to do anyway), despite the circumstances, one of the first ways to start the healing process is by confessing your wrongs and then asking for forgiveness. Uh-oh! I probably just hit a nerve!

What?! Ask for forgiveness?! ME?! WHY!!?? For what?!

Because... so often we want to point the finger and blame others, assuming no responsibility, not realizing we ourselves are flawed. You don't have to follow my advice, the decision is purely yours. But if you are looking to improve your relationship or restore it in any way, shape, or form, this is a mandatory step, regardless of how hard it may be (or how bad you don't want to do it).

So, again, start off by asking your SPOUSE and GOD for forgiveness. FYI - you have to actually mean it. God can tell if your heart is pure or not, and there's no getting over on Him!

[An example: I'm sorry for condeming you in the past. I'm sorry for not supporting you. I'm sorry for making you feel how you feel towards me. Please forgive me. And I humbly ask God to please forgive me as well.]

Now, just to clear the air, I'm not a Bible thumper by any means. Right now, I read the Bible for ME - I want a closer relationship with God for myself and so that I can better be equipped to share the gospel with others. I believe the Bible is the absolute best success book ever written and so I turn to it for my own answers as well as knowledge.

In my heart, I firmly believe that God brings many couples together for reasons bigger than you or I could ever see, imagine, or understand. And I found, what I feel is, proof of it in scripture.

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord.

"And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8

The other day I brought my Bible with me to work because I wanted to look up some things I had read in my Dani Johnson book, Spirit Driven Success. But I was so busy thinking about my marriage, I decided to do a quick search on marriage Bible verses. I am confessing and believing that what I am going to share with you will not return void, but that instead you will hear and receive what I want to share with you.

"And some seed fell into good soil, and grew up and yielded a crop a hundred times [as great]. As He said these things, He called out, He who has ears, let him hear!" Luke 8:8

The main scripture references I found regarding marriage are in Corinthians and Matthew.

Real quick, let me just fill you in on some background, in case you aren't familiar with the chapter. Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul (who was one of Jesus' twelve disciples). Paul stopped in Corinth and started a church. Corinth was a city filled with sin and was much like the times we are in now. Paul reviews many things in Corinthians, but one of them that he teaches us about is God's laws for marriage.

1 Corinthians 7

Instruction on Marriage ¹ Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.^[a]2 But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. ³ The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. ⁵ Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ I say this as a concession, not as a command. ⁷ I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

⁸ So I say to those who aren't married and to widows—it's better to stay unmarried, just as I am. ⁹ But if they can't control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It's better to marry than to burn with lust. ¹⁰ But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord.^[b]A wife must not leave her husband. ¹¹But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife. ¹² Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a Christian man^[c] has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. ¹³ And if a Christian woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him. ¹⁴ For the Christian wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the Christian husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy. ¹⁵(But if the husband or wife who isn't a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the Christian husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.) ¹⁶Don't you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don't you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you? ¹⁷Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.

Matthew 19:4-9

⁴ "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' ⁵ and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? ⁶So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

⁷ "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

⁸ Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

So, long story short, according to this, if you and your spouse are "on the rocks" - the only "acceptable" reason (in God's eyes) that any married couple should depart from each other is if adultery is commited. That is the only "acceptable" split between a married man and woman. Death, adultery, and a spouse who is an unbeliever are the only reasons acceptable to leave, assuming I am understanding this correctly.

So where am I going with this? I want to go over lust & adultery with you real quick because that is something many people (Christians included) have a problem with and it can hinder your relationship. But it's something you should also know is not completely your fault. But, don't think you're getting off easy if you are a lustful or adulterous person.

Believe it or not, lust is usually one of two things (if not both):

1. A sign that an evil spirit has entered and dwells within you
   
2. It can be a generational curse. It can only be broken off of you or your generation if you

• confess it (to God, although he already knows, and the person you offended) or stand in proxy for curses you are aware or unaware of
  
• ask for forgiveness (from God, yourself, and the person you offended)
  
• break the chains off of you and your generations to come by asking God whole-heartedly for forgiveness (meaning you really have to want it, not just say it), and
• walk in faith in believing the curse is broken.

Evil spirits can live in ANY ONE - Christians included. That's right, I said it. Just because you are a Christian does not mean you don't have an evil spirit within you that needs to be cast out into the pit of hell, where it belongs.

There are also many generational curses in many families and because we do not know what all of them are, we MUST stand in proxy for them and ask for God to break them off of us and our families. What are some of your generational curses? (things that are "hereditary" or "run" in your family)

Amongst many, some of mine are not being submissive to man, alcoholism, and being a single parent. I don't have issues with alcoholism because of watching and fearing the crop it can yield - but it still is a threat that the enemy can use against me, if I so allow. Generational curses are usually seeds of the enemy - the devil - that he wants to use to destroy us and our families.

Now, for those of you experiencing this problem, here are some scriptures on adultery:

Matthew 5:27-30

²⁷ "You have heard the commandment that says, 'You must not commit adultery.' ²⁸ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

1 Corinthians 6:15-20

¹⁵Don't you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ And don't you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, "The two are united into one." ¹⁷ But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

¹⁸ Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. ¹⁹ Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Hebrews 13:4

⁴ All of you should honor marriage. You should keep the marriage bed pure. God will judge the person who commits adultery. He will judge everyone who commits sexual sins.

For those of you that still haven't come to grips with this reality - YOU & I BOTH have to answer to God for our sins on Judgement Day. He is the ONLY one who can and has the authority to Judge.

So... that leads us back to not pointing fingers - be careful who and under what circumstances you judge. Often times we get caught up in judging each other without even realizing it. And since we ourselves are judging another, we too are usually are being judged in the same way. Whether it's you and your spouse judging each other or someone else judging us (or our relationship).

Matthew 7:2

² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

What I am trying to say is this: If you truly love your spouse and so desire to remain in your marriage, one of the biggest justices you can do yourself and them is: don't judge them, regardless of their flaws or sins. And learn to express the unconditional love and forgiveness that God expresses to us.

God says (I can't find the scripture right now, but I'll update when I find it) something along the lines of "as far as the east is from the West, I remember your sins no more. If God can manage to forget sins that have been repented for, why do we have such a hard time doing it?

Once you've worked on forgiving yourself and your spouse for any wrongs you've done to each other, the next step in healing, improving, or restoring your relationship is to then work on improving yourself. Yes, you read that right, yourself. Not your spouse, but YOU.

Something I began asking God for on a regualr basis was to help ME learn to submit more to my husband. We live in a society now where women are deemed equal to men and are very liberated. This can cause a huge problem in a marriage as that's not the way God intended it to be. We, as women need to understand, that in a marriage, one of the best ways we can shower our man with love, honor, and respect is via submission. Learn more about showing your man some love.

The man is supposed to be the head, the ultimate decision maker (hard for some of us women to believe and accept, right?). Learn more about the biblical responsibilities of Christian men. But, women, don't worry. We have just as an important role, if not more important. We are the neck (we guide the movement of the head) and we are the fuel to the fire!! Unfortunately, sometimes, our lack of proper steering or words of praise can sometimes be the cause of turmoil in a marriage.

So, to sum it up, once you've gone through the process of forgiving, start working on yourself. Then, begin to pray with your spouse and together turn your marriage over to God.