A Dynamic Defense for Your Marriage

For many people, this procedure is not easy to follow and oftentimes they fail, permitting stress to unleash anger toward their spouse. Most times we learn best by repeatedly trying. So if you fail, ask God and your spouse to forgive you, and continue to pray as suggested in the previous paragraph. Gradually you will grow in the ability to discern how to handle your stress as well as in activating the stego within you to prevent making your spouse a target.

Stego and Impurities

If impurity touches you, do not share it with your spouse. Bring it immediately to the Lord and ask Him to cleanse you.

The Lord dealt with me on this issue some years ago. Though a pastor, many times I have had to supplement my income by working in a secular job. As it happens to many of us, we hear or see things at work that are spiritually unclean. For example, there were times a fellow worker would tell me a dirty joke, even though I told him I did not want to hear it. The worker, of course, ignored my request and quickly spilled out their filth. I had a habit of telling my wife everything that happened at work, including such situations. However, one day my conscience sensed God’s Holy Spirit telling me not to repeat the jokes to Dorcas to “get them off my mind,” but rather to bring my mind to Him to have it cleansed. Why should I endanger my spouse with possible spiritual infection? She is just as human as I am. Christ is the only victorious person and therefore a great High Priest.

This is not to say we should keep from our spouse any other problems we might encounter with temptations at work unless God, and only God, tells us we should. This might be true, for example, in cases where the emotional, mental, or spiritual condition of our spouse is quite fragile. In such a case, if God so leads, tell a trusted true Christian friend that is the same gender you are so you both pray that you will grow in the grace of God and in the sensitivity of hearing His Holy Spirit.

Be Determined to Defend

Though I, as any author, am limited in knowing all possible ways one’s marriage might come under attack, God is not limited. He knows all, including every situation we will meet in the future.

More important is the fact that He has made adequate provision in His Son for us to do the right thing, providing that His Son truly lives within us and we permit Christ to live through us.

If we truly love God and our spouse, we should feast upon His written Word and desire within us the overflowing filling of His Holy Spirit.

I feel led by the Holy Spirit to conclude this article with a prayer one might use. I am presenting it only as a guide. I encourage you to sincerely pray to God through Christ from your heart using your own words.

“Father, I thank You that You are the God of holy love, pure and mighty. I ask that You cleanse me thoroughly. Forgive me where I have sinned, where I have come short. I ask that Your Son, Jesus Christ, truly live through me and that my love for You may increase. Cause my love for my husband/wife to also increase. Quicken my conscience to hear Your voice and strengthen my inner man so I may be quick to raise a shield when anything tries to weaken my love for You or my spouse. I thank You for what Your Son has done for me, my spouse and my family. Worthy are You and worthy is the Lamb to receive praise, adoration, love, and honor. I Jesus’ precious Name I pray. Amen.”