Marriage Math

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."
Matthew 19:5-6 (NIV)

Every math teacher who ever lived will tell you one plus one equals two. 

But every married couple who ever lived knows better.

Jesus is building His case about marriage one block at a time, and now He lays down the next one in today’s verse: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." Leaving comes before uniting. A husband still checking every decision with his mother, or a wife still needing her father's approval before her spouse's, has never fully left. It’s that unfinished leaving that is where marital conflict often starts.

Then, because the point matters so much, Jesus repeats Himself in verse six: "So they are no longer two, but one flesh." A parent and child are two. A brother and sister are two. But a husband and wife become one, and one is a prime number. It cannot be divided the way two can be split into separate pieces.

That is marriage math. Two lives that refuse to stay separate or be separated.

The next time you catch yourself running a decision by your parents before your spouse, even something as small as tonight's dinner or this weekend's plans, stop and ask your husband or wife first. Say it out loud if you have to. Your spouse comes before anyone else’s opinion or preference.

In marriage math, one plus one has only ever equaled one, and God is still doing the addition today.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your Word. I confess, I haven't always “left” the way You asked me to. Show me where I'm still dividing what You've called me to add together. Help me choose my spouse first, today, in the small decisions too. In Jesus' Name, Amen.