Then secondly, the glory and the honor is that of the martyr’s crown. For the way to the Kingdom is the martyria—bearing witness to Christ.19 And this means crucifixion and suffering. A marriage which does not constantly crucify its own selfishness and self‑sufficiency, which does not “die to itself” that it may point beyond itself, is not a Christian marriage. The real sin of marriage today is not adultery or lack of “adjustment” or “mental cruelty.” It is the idolization of the family itself, the refusal to understand marriage as directed toward the Kingdom of God.
