Dear Ones,
Hope you have a wonderful day. Al will be going to men’s group, and I plan to go to my therapy treatment and after Bible Study, I am having my hair done. One of the men from our Bible study died yesterday morning from a massive heart attack and is now with the Lord. He is in the better place, but we will all miss him.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
I recently read an article about reclaiming the truth about marriage that was written by a woman who was divorced from her abusive and unfaithful husband but had not lost hope. Today we are told the lie about marriage being harmful and antiquated in an anti-marriage culture but don’t believe the myth. Marriage is not outdated or a ticket to slavery but a wonderful gift. It is written in Hebrew 13:4, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” Marriage is also a picture of Christ with His church as it says in Rev. 19:7, “Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to cloth herself with fine linen, bright and pure—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”

First of all, a good marriage provides stability and is the best environment to experience well-being, raise kids, and accumulate wealth. We see the statistics of children born into a married household that do better in school and have less chance of delinquency. Marriage also is great financially for married couples save more, buy homes, make more investments and increase their wealth by 16% each year they are married. Couples also have better health and lower levels of cortisol from stress and less illnesses.  Of course, a good marriage is a gift for the individuals but also to families and society. If we want what is best for young people, we need to encourage them to get married and start families and not buy into the anti-marriage culture.

I have been married 59 years and I believe my life is so much richer than if I had remained single. A professor from Harvard concluded his research by saying, “The effects of marriage on health, happiness and life satisfaction, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial stability are thus profound.”
Let us not believe the lies of our anti-marriage culture and miss what God may have for us.

Challenge for today: Encourage young people to strive for marriage at the right time to the right person and know that it is worth the effort.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy