I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:32–34, ESV
Sin sadly corrupts all relationships in our world. When Paul wrote this, he was speaking not a command from God but an advisement for those in the faith. The greater devotion that can be given to the Lord, the better it is for us, but the reality is that when we are caught up in the affairs of the world, we are distracted from our service to God. Whether a person is single or married, this can be true. Yet, for one devoted to God, marriage does require attention paid not only to service toward God but also proper attention given to the spouse and family. All these relationships are meant to be centered in Christ and Christ alone, and that is the work that we are called to do, but not all are faithful in this calling. As a husband, my calling is to act as Christ to her in the home, loving her in the righteousness of our Lord, and my wife is to be supportive and faithful in her life and her care for me as a wife. The love that is to be reflected in marriage is a love that points to our Lord so that children will know how a husband is to treat his wife and a wife her husband. Sadly, few homes reflect this well because of the nature of our world and society. No marriage will look as God intended in the Garden with Adam and Eve, who were able to walk with God and shared a perfect union with one another without sin, but in their desire to be like God, sin entered in the union between them, and God became fractured. Marriage became a union marred by sin where man and woman struggle to keep the balance, and God is often pushed off to one side or another. In Christ, our goal is to, as imperfectly as we are able recreate this union and place our faith and live our lives with our Lord in the center of all that we do in order to devote ourselves not to the world but to Christ and to Him alone.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.