Hebrews 13:4-6 - Be responsible for our own spiritual progress

Having done with talking about responsibility towards others, the author now turned to talk about duties a believer should undertake towards his own personal life. Like the previous three verses, here he also dealt with three things: marriage, money and material possession, and mental attitude.

Regarding marriage, he called on them to treat their marriages with honor. Here, the author wanted them to esteem marriage and to highly regard it. In essence he was saying, “Treat your marriage as precious”. On sexual relationship in marriage, he called for purity. The word “bed” is a euphemism for sexual intimacy. Sex in marriage must not be defiled. Why believers must honor marriage as well as exercise sexual fidelity? He said in the later half of verse 4 that God would judge all fornicators and adulterers.

After talking about marital fidelity, the author then turned to discuss the issue of money and material possession. Here, we see that when a person focused on his money and material wealth, he would find it difficult to endure hardship. Hence, the author warned the readers strongly against being covetous. To avoid being covetous they need to have a proper orientation concerning wealth. Why? It is because when a person places his trust in material wealth, it becomes an obstacle for him to trust the Lord completely. To overcome it, the author called on them to make sure that their love was not on their wealth so that it would not be their main focus in life. He gave them one very key strategy i.e. to focus on God. Why? Because true contentment could only be found in God, never in the things one possesses. Furthermore, God had promised to be with His people. He promised never to desert them. He would watch over them, especially when they encounter hardship.

In verse 6, the author quoted Psalm 118:6 to tell the believers to maintain an outlook that would allow them to trust God. They should know that God had promised to be with them and to see them through triumphantly. Basically, he was calling on them to strengthen their mental attitude and confidently trust God to enable them to live their lives without fear.