Marriage: Truly ONE, Truly TWO - Part 2

Truly One - Bringing Your Baggage

While Adam and Eve may not have come to the union with baggage, they quickly gathered some. Genesis 3:6 tells us that each ate separately of the Tree of Good and Evil. It was a choice that would overflow into every marriage union since. Today, most men and women bring along the baggage, the burdens, that come from life in a sinful world; we add to it when we live in our flesh. If two individuals drag along their baggage, choosing not to release it, they weigh down the union. God's plan is that each person would listen to the Psalmist's urging to, "Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you," Psalm 55:22. As husband and wife come to marriage, God intends that a man is free to leave his baggage behind, and a wife isn't stumbling over her baggage as she tries to cling to her man. Strangely, when packing a canoe, my husband never wants to weigh us down with excess, freeing us to enjoy the adventure. When I bring too much gear, my failure to pack light encumbers our whole canoe. In our spiritual journey, we are freed from condemnation when we are in Christ Jesus, walking in the Spirit, and free from the old burdens of the "law of sin and death," Rom. 8:1,2. Each spouse brings baggage, but Jesus relieves us of our burdens, so we can approach our union without being held back and weighing down our mate.

Ask God to show you any baggage that remains in your own heart and mind, hindering your oneness with your husband. 2 Cr. 5:17 "…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"