What does the Bible say about edifying my spouse?

The Bible has much to say about building up and edifying your spouse, emphasizing the importance of love, respect, encouragement, and unity in marriage. Here are some key biblical principles and verses related to edifying your spouse:

1. LOVE AND SACRIFICE

Edifying your spouse begins with love, modeled after Christ’s love for the church—a selfless, sacrificial love.

• Ephesians 5:25: “HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR WIVES, JUST AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR HER.”
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND. IT DOES NOT ENVY, IT DOES NOT BOAST, IT IS NOT PROUD. … IT ALWAYS PROTECTS, ALWAYS TRUSTS, ALWAYS HOPES, ALWAYS PERSEVERES.”

Loving your spouse unconditionally creates an environment of growth and mutual encouragement.

2. WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

The Bible underscores the power of words to build up or tear down. Use your words to encourage, affirm, and uplift your spouse.

• Proverbs 18:21: “THE TONGUE HAS THE POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH, AND THOSE WHO LOVE IT WILL EAT ITS FRUIT.”
• Ephesians 4:29: “DO NOT LET ANY UNWHOLESOME TALK COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTHS, BUT ONLY WHAT IS HELPFUL FOR BUILDING OTHERS UP ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS, THAT IT MAY BENEFIT THOSE WHO LISTEN.”

Speak life into your spouse’s heart by recognizing their efforts, strengths, and value.

3. MUTUAL RESPECT

Respect is foundational for a thriving marriage, as it honors the image of God in your spouse.

• Ephesians 5:33: “HOWEVER, EACH ONE OF YOU ALSO MUST LOVE HIS WIFE AS HE LOVES HIMSELF, AND THE WIFE MUST RESPECT HER HUSBAND.”

Respecting and esteeming one another fosters trust and unity.

4. SERVING ONE ANOTHER

Edifying your spouse includes serving them with humility and joy, as modeled by Christ.

• Galatians 5:13: “SERVE ONE ANOTHER HUMBLY IN LOVE.”
• Philippians 2:3-4: “DO NOTHING OUT OF SELFISH AMBITION OR VAIN CONCEIT. RATHER, IN HUMILITY VALUE OTHERS ABOVE YOURSELVES, NOT LOOKING TO YOUR OWN INTERESTS BUT EACH OF YOU TO THE INTERESTS OF THE OTHERS.”

Seek ways to meet your spouse’s needs, whether emotional, physical, or spiritual.

5. BUILDING SPIRITUAL INTIMACY

Edify your spouse by growing together in faith, praying for and with them, and encouraging their walk with God.

• Colossians 3:16: “LET THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST DWELL AMONG YOU RICHLY AS YOU TEACH AND ADMONISH ONE ANOTHER WITH ALL WISDOM THROUGH PSALMS, HYMNS, AND SONGS FROM THE SPIRIT.”
• 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “THEREFORE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER AND BUILD EACH OTHER UP, JUST AS IN FACT YOU ARE DOING.”

Spiritual connection strengthens the foundation of your marriage.

6. FORGIVENESS AND GRACE

Edifying your spouse means extending forgiveness and grace, reflecting God’s love.

• Colossians 3:13: “BEAR WITH EACH OTHER AND FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER IF ANY OF YOU HAS A GRIEVANCE AGAINST SOMEONE. FORGIVE AS THE LORD FORGAVE YOU.”
• 1 Peter 4:8: “ABOVE ALL, LOVE EACH OTHER DEEPLY, BECAUSE LOVE COVERS OVER A MULTITUDE OF SINS.”
  Forgiving your spouse helps restore and maintain a healthy relationship.

Discover Great Joy in Your Marriage
Embark on this 5-day Marriage Devotion designed to enrich your relationship, deepen your connection, and strengthen your bond—all rooted in the unshakable promises of God.

Sexuality

Sex & Sexuality: God’s Plan for Intimacy and Purity

We believe that by embracing God’s design and purpose for sex and sexuality, you can bring greater intimacy, passion, and fulfillment into your marriage. In today’s world, sex is often distorted, losing its original, God-given intent. However, through a relationship with Jesus and a life rooted in Scripture, you can find lasting freedom, integrity, and purity in this sacred area.

Building a biblical foundation for sexual intimacy begins with understanding the truth of God’s Word. The Bible reveals that sex, within the covenant of marriage, is a gift designed to deepen connection and reflect the unity of Christ and His church. It also calls us to a life of purity, honoring God with our bodies and our hearts.

If you are struggling with sexual identity or addiction to pornography, know that the power of Jesus can break these strongholds in your life. He offers freedom from lust and destructive desires, replacing them with His transformative grace and love. Turn to Jesus to experience true healing and liberation, as only He can free you completely.

Key Scriptures to Guide You

• Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Understanding Identity: Sorting Truth from Fiction

Male and female are determined not by feelings but by biological reality. In today’s culture, discussions around gender identity can be confusing, especially for children. As parents, it’s important to help your kids navigate these conversations with grace and truth. Teach them that our identity as male or female is rooted in how we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14).

It’s essential to provide a biblical foundation and clarity about these matters, emphasizing that feelings or societal trends do not change the physical and biological realities of how God created us. Engage your kids in open, age-appropriate discussions, helping them to discern truth in a compassionate, loving, and Christ-centered way.

Struggling with Sexuality and Gender Identity

What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality? Answering revisionist gay theology

When a Loved One Says “I’m Gay”: A guide for parents

How to Talk to Your Children About Homosexuality: A guide for parents

Talking to Your Children About Transgender Issues

The Real Danger of Watching Pornography

More than 70% of Christian men admit to watching porn.

So, is watching porn a sin? Whether the answer to this question seems obvious to you or not, we can all benefit from a deeper understanding of why watching porn in any form should be considered

We may be able to easily identify ways in which pornography is ‘wrong’. A few examples are:

1. Turning human bodies into objects for
2. Forms ofviolence and sex-trafficking associated with the porn industry.
3. The lies, deception and even affairs that can spring from someone caught in this trap.

But what if the most dangerous impact of porn is more subtle than that? The greatest danger of watching porn is being lead away from God and his heart for us?

Is watching porn a sin?

The concept of sin is deeply rooted in Scripture, offering a profound understanding that goes beyond simply labeling actions as “right” or “wrong.” To fully address the question of whether watching pornography is sinful, we need to ground ourselves in the broader biblical framework of what sin entails.

What is Sin?

Sin, in its most fundamental sense, represents a separation from God. The original Hebrew word for sin, chata, and its Greek equivalent, hamartia, both convey the idea of “missing the mark.” This “mark” is the perfect and holy life that God intends for humanity—a life aligned with His will, His character, and His purpose for creation.

Sin as Missing the Mark

When we think of sin as “missing the mark,” it emphasizes that sin is not only about breaking rules but also about deviating from the fullness of life that God desires for us. This fuller understanding helps us see sin as a distortion or misalignment with God’s design for human flourishing. It is a failure to live in the harmony of love, justice, and obedience that God calls us to in relationship with Him and with others.

Sin as Veering Off Course

The imagery of veering off course highlights how sin leads us away from the path of righteousness and into harm, brokenness, and alienation. Proverbs 14:12 warns, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Sinful choices may seem appealing or harmless in the moment, but they ultimately lead us away from the life God intends.

What Does God’s Word Say?

The Bible provides clear guidance about sin, its nature, and its consequences. Consider the following key themes:

1. Sin and the Heart

• Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
• Sin originates from a disordered heart—a heart that seeks its own desires above God’s will. Jesus echoes this in Matthew 15:19, where He explains that sinful behaviors stem from the heart.

2. God’s Design for Purity

• Matthew 5:28: “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
• Jesus extends the understanding of sin beyond actions to the thoughts and desires that fuel them. Lust, even when acted upon in private, disrupts the purity and integrity God calls us to uphold.

3. Sin’s Consequences

• Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Sin leads to spiritual death—a separation from the life-giving relationship with God. Yet, God offers redemption through Christ, showing His desire for reconciliation.

Is Watching Pornography a Sin?

Understanding sin as “missing the mark” or “veering off course,” it becomes clear that watching pornography falls into this category. It misuses God’s gift of sexuality, reduces people to objects for gratification, and fosters lust, which Jesus explicitly addresses as sinful in Matthew 5:28. Furthermore, pornography can create patterns of addiction, harm relationships, and dull spiritual sensitivity, drawing individuals further from God’s design for intimacy and love.

God’s Invitation to Wholeness

While sin separates us from God, His grace offers restoration and healing. The Apostle John assures us in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Thus, in reflecting on whether watching pornography is a sin, it becomes evident that it misses the mark of God’s best for us. But the good news of the Gospel is that through repentance and reliance on His strength, we can turn away from sin and walk in the abundant life He promises.

BIBLICAL GUIDANCE

Biblical guidance is utilizing the power of God to achieve the purposes of God. Biblical guidance provides hope for change through the Bible and the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christian people.

Guidance is available for any problem you may be facing—marriage, parenting, divorce issues, addictions, disorders, depression, fear, worry, anger, grief, etc. Our guidance is based on God’s Truth as found in the Bible.

If you would like to request Biblical Guidance please use the form below, thank you!