A few weeks ago I wrote about keeping your marriage first. I have seen so many marriages fall apart over the last few years, and my heart breaks.
Satan WANTS your marriage.
Why, because the marriage is a “Holy Institution”. He hates God.
Hebrews 13:4-7
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Satan wants between you and your spouse. Even the strongest of marriages are going to experience this.
Genesis 3
9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”14 The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”16 To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the plants of the field;
Way back when eve at the fruit of the tree, Satan took a grasp on marriages, that is the beginning of Satan wanting your marriage.
What can you do to help stop Satan?
Be submissive to your husband:
Ephesians 5:23 NASB
For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
For me, this is a relief. I can leave most major decision up to my husband, but I must be willing to discuss them. This doesn’t mean, that I always agree with him, but if I allow him to be the head, then all I have to answer to God about is that, I did submit and let my husband have the final word.
Many times this is not easy, but who said that marriage was easy? Seriously, I am an only child, dh is an only child who was a bachelor until age 27. That in and of itself, has created some umm…friction? However, once I learned to submit, most all of that friction was released and done away with.
1 Corinthians 11:3 NASB
But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
My husband desires a meek and quiet spirit in me…OUCH. Honestly, this is VERY hard for me. I work hard on this and I know I do fail, but I pray I am making headway.
Find out what your husband would like for you to work on. Him, knowing that you care enough to maybe make changes will help him know that his opinion matters. Sometimes it is as simple as a clean kitchen sink, other times it can be as complicated as a meek and quiet spirit.
I can safely say that men do NOT like chaos. Seem, that they might like to create it, but they don’t want it to stick around. Funny, I know, but let’s work hard to create that peaceful environment. And I don’t mean getting rid of your children. Before your husband gets home from work, have the children pick up, fold up and clean up. Make sure they are in cleanish clothes, or I tend to just get them ready for bed. 
To make this even easier, have four to five, five minute pick ups throughout the day. I know my small family moms are wondering how it could take that many to keep the house peaceful, but just invite all your friends children over for an afternoon and then tell me how long it took to clean up.
Another area we can help protect our marriages is by being pleasing to look at. I don’t mean super model looks. I mean teeth brushed, hair combed and decent clothes. If your husband doesn’t like sweats, then don’t greet him in them. If he likes to see you in a skirt, wear it. In all honesty, I need to go shopping to fill this particular point. I tend to buy for everyone else, and well, my body shape has changed, six children five abdominal surgeries later…I am rather soft and cuddly around the edges.
I also don’t mean wearing things that should be kept to the marriage bed either. That last one is one that really bothers me. I see so many married women wearing clothing (if that is what you want to call it) that doesn’t cover any more then a skimpy swimsuit. As my husband has said when seeing women out with their husbands, or even at church, if you want to attempt to attract other men, then please just leave me at home. Your husband probably does not want you traipsing around like that.
Be the instigator. Yup, I said it, and yes, I am talking about THAT. They like it. I don’t need to turn this post to an x-rated post, you know what I am talking about, and I am pretty sure, you understand it.
Spend some one on one time with your husband AT home. Yes, they really don’t like to go here there and everywhere, they want to spend time with you. My husband would rather spend an evening talking, chatting and….then going out to a dinner, where we can’t hardly talk, and a movie where it is rude to talk. I would too, and it is cheap, no sitters, no gas, no extra money spent.
One reason we love to go grocery shopping as a family…Dh and I get windshield time to talk. We live far enough from a major grocery store that we normally get about 1.5 hours of talk time. Our children read books and listen to audio books.
As a homeschool mom, being done with homeschool by the time dh gets home is a good thing, but on days where a particular child is pushing and pulling, I do leave it in dh’s hands, as he is our principle, and he is the head of the house.
In the end, pray, pray some more, and do what you can to lessen the stress on the home front. Give your husband a peaceful place to come home to. Make it so they want to come home. Meet them with a smile and let them unwind a bit.
Great article! We always need those reminders to keep our marriage first and I love what you said about spending time with your hubby at home. I just finally figured that one out!