Do You Remember Your Vows?
Sometimes I think that we should watch our marriage videos at least once a week. Why? So that you can remember WHAT you said and WHY you said it. Do me a favor. Close your eyes and think back to your wedding day. You see it? Yes, that's you all dressed up. Your hair is perfect and your honey looks amazing. Everyone is there smiling and happy. That day you were so in love. You were giving your all, promising your all, to God and to your spouse, right?
It's so easy to lose sight of that day. When you lose sight of that day, that feeling, and that moment; that's when you lose sight of that marriage. And that is why marriages fail. Plain and simple. That one thing turns into other things. Being disconnected. Adultery. Annoyance. Hatred. But it all starts when you lose sight of your vows.
And you do remember those vows, don't you? Pull out the dvd, video, or picture album. Look at you at the altar staring at your beloved. That was you standing up there, wasn't it? No one twisted your arm, right?
Did you say something like this, "For richer or poorer, for better or worse." But maybe we should have said what we really meant instead of the standard vows. Something like "I will love you. With God's help and direction, I will trust you with all of me. I will protect you from any storm that comes.
Your dreams will be my dreams and together we will blind the world with our love. Whether we live in a shack or a mansion, I will follow you.
I will love you when you are unlovable. Even when I don't like you, I will love you. When you are lost, I will be the beacon that guides you home.
I will develop, pray, and grow into exactly who God wants me to be so that I may be a blessing to you and our children's children. I love you exactly as you are today and promise to love you exactly as you are tomorrow.
And I can promise you this because I know that God made me perfectly designed for you and you for me. Amen."
While most of us didn't say those exact words, that is the meaning behind "for better or worse." Would you have gotten married if you had to recite those words instead? That's a lot to live up to, isn't it? Yet that is the kind of commitment that we all yearn for, but stop and as yourself "is that the type of commitment that you are giving?"