This month of July 2024, my wife and I have been married for 14 years. This is such a huge milestone for us and it is clear evidence that if you commit to marriage, no matter what the circumstances and put God at the center then things will always work out. I think this generation has become less tolerant and not committed.Many marriages were destined for trouble from the utterance of the words “I do.” When the couple publicly declared, “I do”, they really didn’t understand what they were committing to. They had no comprehension of what true commitment was. They entered marriage thinking that divorce was a viable option in their pursuit of self-fulfillment and happiness, or they naively thought that it could never happen to them. For many there isn’t much difference between their commitment in dating and their commitment in marriage.
Marriage is just another way to express how much they love someone.My wife and I learned very quickly that if the Foundation of your marriage does not have genuine love and the presence of God, then when the storms come, its easy to let go. My favorite definition of love is “to give not caring what one gets in return.” Many would call this love, agape, the Greek term for God’s love for us. To agape means a married person is saying to his or her mate, “If at some point I don’t have loving feelings for you, I will still love you. If you get sick and can’t respond in love towards me, I will still love you. If you treat me unlovingly, I will still respond in love towards you.” This type of love is divine, and it is this love God originally meant to be experienced in marriages.
The basic building blocks of society simply erode without commitment. Any sensible society must address this problem by educating people that commitment is the very essence of human relationships.At the least, we need to teach this in our churches. How can you begin as a Christian without death to self and total commitment to Jesus Christ?
But beyond the ramifications for society as a whole, beyond even the obvious necessity of Christian commitment, when we refuse to commit, we miss out on one of the great joys of life. When we obsess over ourselves, we lose the meaning of life, which is to know and serve God and love and serve our neighbors.
Trees will fall over during a storm if the roots are not deep. So when our marriage faced major tests, I saw that both of us had solid love for each other and more importantly love for God that we were not willing to disappoint Him.
God does not give up on us. Let's not give up on each other as husband and wife.