Christian Marriage Quotes

“A marriage which does not constantly crucify its own selfishness and self-sufficiency, which does not ‘die to itself’ that it may point beyond itself, is not a Christian marriage. The real sin of marriage today is not adultery or lack of ‘adjustment’ or ‘mental cruelty.’ It is the idolization of the family itself, the refusal to understand marriage as directed toward the Kingdom of God. This is expressed in the sentiment that one would ‘do anything’ for his family, even steal. The family has here ceased to be for the glory of God; it has ceased to be a sacramental entrance into his presence. It is not the lack of respect for the family, it is the idolization of the family that breaks the modern family so easily, making divorce its almost natural shadow. It is the identification of marriage with happiness and the refusal to accept the cross in it. In a Christian marriage, in fact, three are married; and the united loyalty of the two toward the third, who is God, keeps the two in an active unity with each other as well as with God. Yet it is the presence of God which is the death of the marriage as something only ‘natural.’ It is the cross of Christ that brings the self-sufficiency of nature to its end. But ‘by the cross, joy entered the whole world.’ Its presence is thus the real joy of marriage. It is the joyful certitude that the marriage vow, in the perspective of the eternal Kingdom, is not taken ‘until death parts,’ but until death unites us completely.”
― Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy

“Sex is not about genitalia. It’s about relationship. When God said ‘the two shall become one flesh,’ he didn’t mean it only physically.”
― Sheila Wray Gregoire, The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: And You Thought Bad Girls Have All the Fun

“As a house can be only be built satisfactorily and durably when there is a foundation, and a picture can be painted only when there is something prepared to paint it on, so carnal love is only legitimate, reasonable, and lasting when it is based on the respect and love of one human being for another.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Walk in the Light and Twenty-Three Tales

“God created us in his image, male and female, with personhood and sexual passions, so that when he comes to us in this world there would be these powerful words and images to describe the promises and the pleasures of our covenant relationship with him through Christ.”
― John Piper, Sex and the Supremacy of Christ

“Sexual intimacy is a relationship, not just body parts coming together. The more comfortable you are with each other outside the bedroom; the easier it is to relax and the sweeter the intimacy!”
― Ngina Otiende, The Wedding Night: Embracing Sexual Intimacy as New Bride

“God created us with sexual passion so that there would be language to describe what it means to cleave to him in love and what it means to turn away from him to others.”
― John Piper, Sex and the Supremacy of Christ

“If we want to have and enjoy such Christ-centered intimacy, we need to get married. And if we want to get married, we need to pursue clarity about whom to marry. We don’t pursue clarity by diving into intimacy. The right kind of clarity is a means to the right kind of intimacy, not the other way around. Careful, prayerful, thoughtful clarity will produce healthy, lasting, passionate intimacy. Any other road to intimacy will sabotage it, leaving it shallow, fragile, and unreliable.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

“The first three years of our marriage were miserable. Until I got a divorce. A divorce from loving myself and seeking my own way. I was reading the book of Galatians one night when I stumbled on the verse, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (2:20), and the most profound thought hit me: If I am dead, and Christ lives in me, can my wife see Him there? Finding the right person, I have since discovered, is less important than being the right person. The happiest married people I know discovered early on that the "better" comes after the "worse".”
― Phil Callaway, Family Squeeze: Tales of Hope and Hilarity for a Sandwiched Generation

“The great prize in dating is Christ-centered clarity. Intimacy is safest in the context of marriage and marriage is safest in the context of clarity. The purpose of our dating is to determine whether the two of us should get married, so we should focus our effort there.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

“A lot of the heartache and confusion we feel in dating stems from treating dating mainly as practice for marriage (clarity through intimacy), instead of as discernment toward marriage (clarity and then intimacy).”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

“A spouse who refuses to cultivate or fan physical intimacy first devalued the marriage in their mind and priorities. Spouses who defile their marriage bed first lost honor for their marriage.”
― Ngina Otiende, The Wedding Night: Embracing Sexual Intimacy as New Bride

“God has a passion for brand new beginnings.”
― Ngina Otiende, The Wedding Night: Embracing Sexual Intimacy as New Bride

“For Christians, especially postmodern Christians bereft of any consensus, sexual difference is a similar category. We will not know what it means until we allow God to tell us what it means. The tradition has claimed that we do not know who we are and what it means to find ourselves differentiated as men and women until we allow the premises and practices of revelation to unfold. In the tradition, stretching from Augustine to John Paul II, sexual difference is not mute, inert, nonexistent, or indifferent. In this tradition, God brings man to woman and tells the two sexes something they would not otherwise know: that their creation is good, that their creation as two sexes is for the sake of enabling a church and a covenant, and that, despite their fallenness, their twoness can in itself become a witness to reconciliation and redemption through marriage. Marriage gives this aspect of our creation the power to testify, and the nonmarried offer supporting testimony through their chastity, which creates the social ecology supporting marriage.”
― Christopher C. Roberts

“A Christian marriage is [not] one with no problems or even a marriage with fewer problems. (It may well mean more problems.) But it does mean a life in which two people are able to accept each other and love each other in the midst of problems and fears. It means a marriage in which selfish people can accept selfish people without constantly trying to change them—and even accept themselves, because they realize personally that they have been accepted by Christ.”
― Keith Miller, The Taste of New Wine

“God compared the church to a marriage. Until the church realizes the covenant of spouses is vital for the health of the church, the community, it will continue to decline in relevance.”
― Aaron Behr

“Why didn’t you go after her?”
His father’s deep voice confronted his cowardice. Michael stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, slumping his shoulders in the process as a child being scolded. He could not look at his father, he knew all too well the disapproving glare that was bound to chastise him.
“Love isn’t easy, Son.” His father’s hand on his shoulder offered understanding and friendship, far from the reprove he expected.
“But it is for you and mom.”
“No, Son, it isn’t.” His father admitted. “I think we need to talk. How about ordering us a pizza, while I settle in.” Guiding his son back to the house, Joseph felt the prick of thorns from the guilt of past mistakes.

“I can’t believe you and mom almost divorced.” Michael shook his head in disbelief at the story his father had shared with him.
“We came very close. Thankfully, my father, your grandfather, sat me down and shared his own marital struggles with me. None of us are exempt from them. I know you and Abigail are not talking marriage yet, but I see the way you look at her and I know, that it is just a matter of time. Love is a commitment, Michael, not a contract.” Joseph sat his empty coffee cup down on the table and spoke honestly with his son. “Either you love her enough to fight for her, or you don’t love her at all.”
“I do love her.”
“Then fight for her, Michael. That includes forgiving her, not just once, but each time she messes up.” Standing, Joseph handed Michael his Bible. “I have marked two passages I want you to read. Start with Isaiah 53 and end with 1 Corinthians 13. I think you will find your answers there.” Reaching his hand down to his boy, Joseph pulled him up into his embrace. “Sleep well, Son. Your mom and I are praying for you.”
― Renee Kinlaw, Chasing Abigail

“The emotional roller coaster of that Christmas morning is a lighthearted and fun picture of a hard reality. God often withholds, or even takes away, something from us in order to give us something far greater. Our Father in heaven knows all our needs, has plans for us we never could have imagined for ourselves, and wields the whole universe for our good. But doing what’s best for us often requires causing us some pain or discomfort first, like drilling a cavity or resetting a bone. God’s love can be unpleasant, even excruciating in the moment, but it always steers us through every dark valley to unparalleled life and joy. It also saves us all kinds of grief and pain in the future.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

“Pain is never evidence that God forgot about us or doesn’t care anymore. He promises, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10). If he allows us to walk through something hard or painful, like a breakup, he walks with us every step and waits on the other side to give us a gift that dwarfs all our suffering—like trading an uncool cell phone for a new car.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

“But when we choose to pursue purity and postpone intimacy, Jesus’s sacrifice looks costly, like our most expensive and prized possession. When we do not push boundaries, we announce the priceless weight of every one of his wounds. When we keep our clothes on and our hands from wandering, we celebrate the immeasurable mercy he carried on a back destroyed with lashes. When we wait in dating, we declare again that he really is risen from the dead and reigning in heaven. Our sexual purity will either make the cross look real and valuable, or it won’t. With our eyes happily fixed on Jesus, the once-for-all sacrifice for our sins, he will increasingly be honored in our bodies, whether in singleness or marriage.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

“Husbands, the world is watching you. You are to model what the saving looks like. Wives, the world is watching you. You are to model what the salvation looks like.
Why is the world not streaming to the rod of Jesse? Why are the nations not turning away from their folly? Is it because the gospel the Church is presenting to them is a gospel that looks too much like our marriages?”
― Douglas Wilson, Gashmu Saith It: How to Build Christian Communities that Save the World

“If you are married, or single hoping to marry, remember this: every marriage is comprised of two sinners. The best marriage is one where those sinners are united in their love of God, their commitment to serve one another, and a spirit of humility. Through marriage you can expect to learn how much sacrifice is involved in loving a sinner through all the ups and downs of life: this is a picture of how Christ loves us.”
― Kerry van der Vinne, The Book of Ruth: A 6-Part Bible Study on Knowing True Love

“Here's a rule for married people:
Don't stop repenting, Don't stop forgiving,
Don't start counting, Don't stop giving.”
― Kingsley Opuwari Manuel

“When the person you prayed for becomes the person you pray with.”
― Ronette Johnson, A Husband and Wife's Love Letter to God: How Pleasing God in Your Marriage Expresses Your Faith and Love to God

“A couple can grow together when it's God who planted them together.”
― Ronette Johnson, A Husband and Wife's Love Letter to God: How Pleasing God in Your Marriage Expresses Your Faith and Love to God

“Love is empty without a promise.”
― Cindy. David

“Love thrives on promises; without them, it feels hollow.”
― Cindy. David

“Love thrives on promises; without them, it feels hollow.”
― Cindy David, What it Means When I Say 'I Do'

“Love without promises is like a book without words—empty and incomplete.”
― Cindy David, What it Means When I Say 'I Do'

“When love can no longer be sustained just by our feelings, we build a foundation for it to stand on: our active commitment.”
― Cindy David, What it Means When I Say 'I Do'

“Being pretty and nice does not make a good wife or husband. You have to also consider if the person loves God.”
― IyanuOluwa Olorode, Love's Direction