{"id":5510,"date":"2023-11-15T15:17:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T15:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/?p=5510"},"modified":"2023-11-15T15:17:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T15:17:11","slug":"former-nfl-star-benjamin-watson-reflects-on-sanctity-of-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/2023\/11\/former-nfl-star-benjamin-watson-reflects-on-sanctity-of-marriage.html","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL Star Benjamin Watson Reflects on Sanctity of Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_5516\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5516\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5516\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/413\/2023\/11\/benjamin-watson-marriage-credit-benjamin-watson-instagram.png\" alt=\"benjamin watson\" width=\"768\" height=\"522\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5516\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@benjaminwatson\/Instagram.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Former NFL player Benjamin Watson recently reflected on marriage as he celebrated his brother\u2019s wedding. He wrote on Instagram, \u201cI\u2019ve been married long enough to experience the warm feelings of nostalgia as bride and groom exchange vows before God. Personal memories of our big day mingle with joy and excitement for the new journey that awaits them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued, \u201cMarriage is not to be entered into lightly. A representation of Christ and His church, marriage has physical, emotional, and, most importantly, spiritual implications. What a special time we had celebrating my brother\u2019s wedding in England. It\u2019s time for him and his bride to begin their own journey, in their own way, while building their foundation on the Rock.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cy7U-Hdu_0-\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cy7U-Hdu_0-\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by benjaminswatson (@benjaminswatson)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Many remember Watson as a football player, but today, he is a prominent pro-life advocate.\u00a0He explained, \u201cWe are in a new fight for life. We are a year past Roe being overturned, and I think over this last year, so many of us who call ourselves pro-life have tried to figure out what that means now for a pro-life movement that wants to make abortion both unthinkable and unnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a topic that he explores in his book, <em>\u201cThe New Fight for Life: Roe, Race and a Pro-life Commitment to Justice.\u201d <\/em>He wrote of the book\u2019s publication, \u201cI don\u2019t know why God has me on this journey, but my only goal is to be faithful and obedient in word and deed. The spiritual warfare is palpable in each of these issues. The convergence is heavy. Pray for my heart, if you will.\u201d Watson wants to be a \u201cvoice for the voiceless\u201d through pro-life work and advocacy.<\/p>\n<p>He told CBN\u2019s Faithwire, \u201cAs believers, we are called to be voices for the voiceless. And that manifests itself in a lot of different ways.\u201d He added, \u201cRight now is a very contentious time in America. Right now, in this post-Roe era, there\u2019s just so many narratives to combat and so many people that are trying to figure out what\u2019s the best way to serve. So, it has been an honor and, I believe, a duty to speak on this topic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to News Nation, Watson said, \u201cI believe that the human person, starting from fertilization or conception to natural death, bears the image of God. I believe that every person has inherent value, whether they are liberal or conservative. Whether they come from any sort of ethnic background or any socio-economic status.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued, \u201cAs people of faith, it\u2019s imperative that we speak about certain issues because there are others who may feel the same way. But, because of their circumstances, their job, their family pressures, they feel silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former NFL player Benjamin Watson recently reflected on marriage as he celebrated his brother\u2019s wedding. He wrote on Instagram, \u201cI\u2019ve been married long enough to experience the warm feelings of nostalgia as bride and groom exchange vows before God. Personal memories of our big day mingle with joy and excitement for the new journey that&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":5516,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,23],"tags":[656,653,33],"class_list":["post-5510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","category-relationships","tag-benjamin-watson","tag-healthy-marriage","tag-marriage"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former NFL Star Benjamin Watson Reflects on Sanctity of Marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After celebrating his brother&#039;s wedding, former NFL star Benjamin Watson reflected on the sanctity of marriage and how it represents Christ.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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