It seems that lately, I have been talking about marriage with several different people in my life. And I recently went to a wedding, so there's that.
Marriage is one of those wonderful and sometimes hard blessings in life. When it's good, it's so good. And when it's bad...it causes devastation. It really is a big, big deal.
This past spring I got to do my first "Bridal Shower Devotional" at a church bridal shower. I've been a Pastor's wife for 8 years, and that was my first time speaking. Let that sink in a little bit. I'm not a speaker. I talk with my hands waaaay too much (always) and I don't like people watching me, and I sway back and forth. A lot. It's all terribly distracting, I'm quite sure. I'll stick with blogging. ;)
But. I thought, I would share with you what I shared with them. As in Copy/Paste right onto my blog. It's like you were there...minus my awkwardness. You are welcome.
But I want to clarify something first before I get to the actual devotional:
Contract vs. Covenant
Whenever I hear someone refer to marriage as "Just a piece of paper," as in a legal contract, I can't help but cringe because it indicates to me that they already know there's a fairly simple way out of it, if that's what they choose.
My cell phone: Contract. Just a piece of paper. They give me cell service, I pay my bill and we both live happily ever after. But guess what's gonna happen if I stop paying my bill? Legal contract void. Sure, they'll still want their money, but eventually they'll be done with me. When marriage is viewed as a contract, then we give ourselves a way out when the other person stops doing what they said they would do.
Eventually, both of you will not hold up your end of the "contract" in some way. I promise you that. Because we're all selfish. And there's a good tendency to think we are always doing our part, while our spouse...not so much. Right?
Marriage is meant to be a covenant. I said vows. I didn't say, "If you do this, then I'll do this." Because, good luck with that. I made a covenant to do what I said, regardless of my husband upholding his. Regardless. And Ben did the same. Would I have been elated to marry a man that viewed it as contractual? No. Way. Because it reveals deeper heart issues going on. A covenant is not the same as a legal contract. One really is just a piece of paper...marriage however, was never designed to be just that.
So, this post has already reached my self-imposed limit of words. Monday I will post my Four Musts of Marriage (which isn't original, whatever.)
Come back Monday. But have a super awesome weekend first.