How to Improve Marriage

12 Basic Marriage Principles
You Need to Know

Today’s statistics on marriage are a little scary.

Current studies show that 47% of all marriages end in Divorce. Numbers are no different between those who do and do not attend church. Kenneth Conner, President of Family Life, says that most of the crime problems we have in America today stem from the breakdown of the traditional American family. People used to get married and stay married. Kids used to have one set of parents their whole life. Today statistics show 1 in 3 children are born out of wedlock and more than half of the children in America do not have a loving mom and dad to share their life with. Nobody goes into marriage thinking that it will end in divorce. It’s like buying a new car. They all look and smell good when you take your first ride. So what’s the problem?

The Bible said there would be days like this.

Marriage is a union of two imperfect people coming together in a fallen and sinful world, both with good and bad traits, habits, sins, selfish desires — both like sheep — gone astray and wanting to be happy. Jesus says even though you will have trouble, take heart because there is a solution. Most people do not know the basic principles God laid out for marriages to be successful. So what is that solution and how do we succeed?

Here are 12 basic principles that I believe will make or break a marriage. These principles are aimed at two totally different sets of people:

1. Those who have never been married.
2. Those are married and feel like the honeymoon is definitely over.

In Mark 4:34 there is a very interesting verse in the Bible. It says: “But without a parable He (Jesus) did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” A parable is simply a word picture, analogy, or story that helps illustrate a principle. With this in mind, I will use several analogies as I talk about the 12 principles.