Marriage is not only a joyful and enjoyable relationship, it also is one that is able to protect and help a married man or woman face life's challenges in a better way. While it requires much effort to preserve, it also offers various benefits far outweighing the efforts needed to tend to it.

One of the great benefits that marriage brings is protection, in different aspects. I don't know about you, but my marriage has given me a different level of security, protection, and peace. While we should all be secured in God first before marrying, being married also helps in keeping us secure in God. Let me explain.

Protected By Marriage

You see, friends, marriage is like a protective sheet that allows a married couple to stay dry, warm, and safe under a strong outpouring of problems. Just like an umbrella under the rain, holding it up in times of great storms in life helps to keep us safe and comfortable.

Don't believe me? Here are some ways marriage protects those bound by it.

1. Socially

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him.'" (Genesis 2:18 MEV)

All of us face certain amounts of loneliness, whether we like to admit it or not. Some show a strong and happy face, while actually secretly hoping to find "the right one" who will be a lifelong companion in the journey called life.

Having a spouse greatly helps in this matter. While we marry not because we're alone (that's a wrong reason to marry, folks), marrying brings someone closer to us – so close we become one with our spouse.

2. Emotionally

Having a spouse also helps insulate us from emotional problems. My wife greatly helped me in this matter, and I'm sure your spouse will, too, if you allow it.

Genesis 2:25 tells us that, "They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

Have you ever felt the need to have someone to share your deepest longings, sighs, and secrets to? Your God-given spouse is the perfect human to share those things to.

I always like to think of Eve's origins as Adam's rib. God took a rib out of Adam, fashioned it into Eve, and brought them together. The rib that literally protected Adam's physical heart has become the wife that will protect his heart figuratively: by loving him and giving him a safe room to be free.

3. Sexually

Married couples also have a great help in the pursuit of sexual purity in their spouses. 1 Corinthians 7:3-4 tells us,

"Let the husband render to the wife due affection, and likewise the wife to the husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does."

I always consider it a tremendous privilege to be my wife's husband and she my wife. I am divinely and legally permitted – and encouraged – to shower my love on her without fear or guilt, simply because she's my wife. Best of all, I can do it for a lifetime.

I enjoy my wife that God gave me (see Ecclesiastes 9:9; Proverbs 5:18; Song of Solomon 4:9), and I love her deeply. Her love, our God-given marriage, allows me to love intimately and purely.