If your house is not in order, your marriage may not survive your jail stay. Make sure your home is being run according to Christ, not the world.
If your house is out-of-order, your spouse is going to say, "I don't have any security with you. Ever since you became involved with those religious fanatics, we're losing everything. If you're going to be in and out of jail, I might as well find someone more reliable. Joe at the office is a lot more stable than you are - and he makes more money."
Before this happens to you, consider the foundations of marriage. In the beginning, our Creator made a helpmate for Adam.
Genesis 2:18 What was she to help him with? His work. Our Creator planned for married folks to work as a team to make their marriage fruitful and holy.
Today's society has completely violated the concept of a man and wife working together. The sweat and toil of making a living, building a home and raising a family used to find a man and his wife laboring side by side all day long, either on their farmstead, or in their store, which was also where they lived. They were working for themselves and their dreams, as God directed them. They could kiss or chat or take a break together. He could help her with a job that needed a strong back. She could lend her help when an extra set of hands was needed. Every day they sat down to their meals together. And the divorce rate was nothing like it is today.
Now the man works for some other guy, doing work he does not care about. He is away from his wife, often working side by side with other women. Meanwhile his wife is also out in the work force taking orders from another man and working side by side with other men. With so much time spent apart, how can a man and wife build a strong relationship?
It is time spent together, labors shared and projects accomplished together that builds strong relationships. Since you are one flesh with your spouse, then do things with your own body, not foreign bodies. The one you work with is the one you will relate to most. Let that person be your beloved
lifemate.
When a man allows his wife to work an outside job, she is tempted by men she would not have a relationship with otherwise. She shares the satisfaction of material accomplishments with these other men, instead of her husband.
Some men take their wives out of the work force, but they remain at their corporate job. This is only half a solution. The husband works with career-minded women whose abilities and skills he may admire. Meanwhile, his own wife is confined to the four-walls of home with small children and limited creative outlets. She knows and understands little of the work he does. Her mental level degenerates to the level of her small children, while he grows more and more attracted to the career women he works beside.
A Godly solution is to find a home-based ministry where husband and wife can combine their talents and work together to fulfill their responsibilities. Grow together, not apart. Go places together. Share the Truths God reveals with each other. Laugh together, a little humor goes a long way. Do all the normal activities of life together. This will steadily increase marital harmony and decrease marital friction. These activities include making a living in a family ministry outside the world system, teaching your children at home in the ways of the Kingdom, and being a good neighbor by lending a helping hand to those in need.
When Rachel and I first put Heaven plates on the car, we resolved to go everywhere together. Today we still do even simple tasks like going shopping or to the post office as a team. At first it was awkward, but now we treasure our moments together.
When married couples do their daily activities together, they will be growing together in Spirit and Oneness with the Father and Son. When persecution comes and you go to jail, your spouse will not desert you. The fiery trial will strengthen both your commitment to each other and to Jesus Christ.
