of your wedding vows

I,___, take you,___, to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part...

Sound familiar? It should, millions of people get married every year, many of the marriages, unfortunately, end in divorce. Though society will try to convince you that there are many reasons for this, the truth is there is only one. We have said, "No God." Marriage is a Holy Union ordained by God, God has established roles and guidelines for it. Mankind, in all our vast knowledge, has chosen to ignore God and in doing so we have sabotaged ourselves. For a marriage to stand strong it must be in-line with The Word of God. As long as we refuse to take our rightful place in God we will not be successful. The following is my opinion which has been greatly influenced by the Bible.

It is important to receive Godly counsel before getting married. The goal of the counseling is to inform you what God says a wife/husband is, to make any additional expectations known, and to destroy any illusions one might have regarding what a marriage is. Usually this is done with your pastor but it is also a good idea to discuss things with your bridal party. A bridal party is not just a group of your closest friends. They are family and friends that you trust to fight for your relationship, even when you don't feel like it. Choose them wisely.

Recognize that wedding vows are beautiful, sweet, and romantic, but they are made to God, not to your spouse. When you exchange those vows you enter into a covenant with God. You are promising God that no matter what the circumstances, the two of you will stay together, stay sweet, stay loving, stay devoted, and stay true, to each other. God does not mandate you promise him anything but if you do, it is better to die than to break that promise, so be careful what you say.

The ideal marriage is an equal-lateral triangle. God is at the top and husband and wife are at the bottom. The closer you get to God, the closer you get to each other, and the smaller the triangle becomes and ultimately the three become as one. When a husband/wife is not what God says they should be there is no triangle, there is a line. This line makes it impossible for you to have a strong relationship with each other and with God. It destroys the peace and happiness because husband and wife are now blocking each other from God's blessings.

If you do none of the above, please read the Bible. Find out what God says your proper role would be in a marriage, and if you can't be that, abstain from it. Marriage is beautiful, but only when it's right. Your happiness, your peace, your eternity is at stake.

Someone is watching!!