Perhaps this is too hard for many to accomplish because the "mystery is great" (Eph 5:32). Is it too much to ask to live "'on earth as it is in heaven'" (Mt 6:10)? Maybe you'd have to be like Paul who wished "that all men were even as I myself am" (1Co 7:7). Even Matthew 22:30 states that a heavenly existence will be achieved where they will be "'like angels in heaven.'" Is it important to be aware of your spiritual existence? Romans 8:27 says there is a "mind of the Spirit", and a mind denotes intelligence. "'God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit'" (Jn 4:24). This implies you have spiritual intelligence which goes beyond the physical brain to accomplish things like loving your wife and neighbor as yourself.

There is other knowledge available so the mystery doesn't overwhelm you. First Corinthians 15:45 says "'The first man, Adam, became a living soul.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." But James 2:26 points out that "the body without the spirit is dead." That means that man has a spiritual dimension that transcends the body. Furthermore, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete." The body and spirit are distinctive parts. Something to think about is that since the spirit has intelligence, what you know and have become will be taken with you to heaven (or hell) afterwards.

The mystery must be taken out of it. You have heard it said that a successful marriage takes work. In our society people go to their daily work. A Christian's work is to "'believe in him'" (Jn 6:29) and his daily steps are a "walk by faith" (2Co 5:7). Therefore a good marriage is a regular exercise of daily faith. But "faith, if it has no works, is dead" (Jas 2:17) so "do not deal treacherously" (Mal 2:16).

What composes the works that will sustain a marriage? Ephesians 5:33 mentions the main ingredient. "Each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband." Without love you generate only noise (1Co 13:1). Therefore "live by faith" (Gal 2:20) which works through love (5:6). Love is insurance that you don't break the faith that Malachi warned about. First Corinthians 13:13 says there is "faith, hope and love . . . but the greatest of these is love."