Bible Verses for Marriage

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”

Ephesians 5:25

The bar is not affection. It is sacrifice. Paul measures a husband's love against a Man who died. That is not romantic sentiment. That is the cost of loving someone well over a long time, laying down your preferences, your ego, your last word, again and again.

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

This passage is read at weddings. It was not written for weddings. Paul wrote it to a church that could not stop fighting. It is a checklist of how to behave when the person in front of you has just done something you find hard to forgive. Every line is a choice you make in the hard moments, not a feeling you have in the easy ones.

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

The writer builds the picture step by step. Two lift each other up. Two keep each other warm. Two fight off attackers. Then at the end, the third strand, which is God woven in. A two-strand marriage can break. A three-strand one, held by the Lord, is much harder to tear apart.

“And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

Colossians 3:14

Paul has just listed a dozen virtues a household needs, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness. Then he says put love on over all of them, like a belt that holds the outfit together. Without it, everything else falls apart. With it, even the broken pieces stay connected.

“What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Mark 10:9

Jesus is quoting Genesis. God joined. God did. The marriage is not held together only by the two people. It is held by the One who tied the knot. That is not a threat. It is a relief on the days when your knot-tying skill is tired.

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”

1 Peter 3:7

Peter gives a remarkable instruction. Dwell with her according to knowledge. Study her. Learn how she works, what she needs, what hurts her. And he warns that a home where the husband does not honor his wife is a home where prayers stop flowing. The spiritual life of the household is tied to how two people treat each other.