4 Vital Ways to Strengthen Your Marriage against Satan’s Attacks

1. Pray for Your Marriage

2. Fight against Drifting Apart

“So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mathew 19:6)

One of the major pitfalls in marriage is when couples allow their God-ordained unity to be compromised.

When a couple gets married, they cease being two individuals and become one. This unity must be intentionally nurtured and guarded. It doesn't have to take another human being to separate a couple. Many couples end up drifting apart and this gives the enemy a loophole.

Drifting apart mainly happens when the marriage starts to lose its novelty and when life gets hectic. The couple is often caught up in their careers, raising kids, and furthering their studies among other responsibilities. It doesn't help when you throw familiarity into the mix. Their unity as a couple is no longer a priority, and resentment towards each other is inevitable.

Some of the things couples can do to insulate their marriages from drifting apart include spending intentional time together, exploring hobbies/interests together, prioritizing physical, emotional, and spiritual intimacy, and keeping their communication lines open.

The enemy will want you and your spouse to drift apart so that he can get a foothold. Out of disunity, he sows discord, strife, resentment, mistrust, and even infidelity.

Couples should remember that since marriage is a long-term commitment, it requires ongoing intentionality and resolve, committing to each other over and over again. 

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3. Meet Your Spouse’s Needs

"Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4 BSB)

Your spouse was madly in love with you alright, but that's not the only reason they agreed to marry you. There was more.

They had a set of emotional, spiritual, and physical needs and you, out of several other people, convinced them that you could meet their needs down to a T. What's interesting about these needs is that their needs may be polar opposite from yours and therefore prioritized differently.

As such, each spouse may be outdoing themselves meeting the needs they prioritize but unfortunately fail to float their partner's boat. Sadly, a lot of couples haven't the slightest idea on how to meet their spouse's needs and that becomes a loophole for the enemy.

Imagine if you emptied your savings to buy a car only to discover that it was faulty from the get-go. It keeps stalling on the road and ends up costing you an arm and a leg to have it repaired. Such an experience would undoubtedly make you regret having purchased that car. You would feel duped.

In the same way, when we don't meet our spouse's needs, they feel shortchanged. They walked into marriage hoping to have their needs met only to languish in disappointment.

In his book His Needs, Her Needs author and marriage counselor, Willard F. Harley, Jr. lists men's top five basic needs. He observes that they are sexual fulfillment, recreational companionship, an attractive spouse, domestic support, and admiration. He on the other hand details a woman's top five basic needs as affection, conversation, honesty and openness, financial support, and family commitment.

Willard further observes that one way of affair-proofing a marriage is seeking to know your partner's top priority needs and meeting them. Spouses who live with unfulfilled needs are more prone to forging unhealthy relationships with other people which can lead to affairs/infidelity.

If you are at a loss for what your partner's needs are, the best way to find out is to ask them. By seeking to meet their needs, you are fortifying your marriage against the enemy.

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4. Avoid Comparing Your Spouse

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6)

It takes a few minutes of scrolling through your socials before spotting a picture-perfect couple. This couple, unlike you and your spouse, seem to have it all together. They are in sync both emotionally and physically. What's more?

They seem to be the perfect parents raising near-perfect kids. It leaves you wondering why you have not been as lucky in your marriage. But the problem is not you, you figure. The problem is your spouse.

Comparing your spouse is another loophole for the enemy. Besides people on social media, you could be comparing your spouse to a colleague, your best friend's spouse, your spiritual leader, or even your next-door neighbor. This is downright unfair and degrading to them.

It makes your spouse lose value in your eyes and triggers resentment in you. It also blinds you to the many attributes that your spouse possesses. Their worth pales in your eyes and you may start withdrawing affection towards them.

At worst, comparing your spouse can lead to an affair as the discontentment spirals out of control. The truth is that there isn't a perfect couple on God's green earth. The couple that you are splitting hairs about has their equal share of challenges. Perhaps if you got a sneak peek into their plights, you would swell up with gratitude for your spouse.

When you got married, you slammed that door shut. You vowed to be faithful to your spouse in the good and awful times. God expects you to forge ahead with your spouse without being sidetracked by other people.

Don't allow the enemy to gain a foothold in your marriage by comparing your spouse, or by any other sneaky means. Remember, when you strengthen your marriage against Satan's attacks, you aren't just protecting your marriage--You are protecting a sacred, living symbol of Christ's love for his Church. What a gift to participate in this divine story. 

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This article originally appeared on Christianity.com. For more faith-building resources, visit Christianity.com.