The marriage covenant

Comedian Daniel Tosh does a little sketch where he says, "Who'd have ever thought Jesse James wouldn't take vows to the Lord seriously?"

He was making fun of how people were shocked that Jesse James cheated on Sandra Bullock when they were married.

I brought this up at premarital counseling tonight, talking about how I realized yesterday just how important marriage vows are, because it's not just a promise between two people but it's a covenant with God.

Our pastor also brought up the difference between covenant and contract. He said that contracts are deals between two people where both parties mutually benefit, and those contracts can be ended when one party is no longer satisfied. Even though ending a contract can have consequences, they can be ended.

Marriage, however, is a covenant. That means that Nate and I are going to be making a promise to God that we will stay together, even if the situation is not beneficial for us or if we aren't feeling satisfied. It's a vow to the Lord.

When I give up stuff for Lent, it's a promise to God that I will give something up for a certain period of time. I often have desires to cheat, until I think about my promise to God. I know that God takes promises much more seriously than we do.

Our pastor talked about hardships in his marriage and how he has always thought back to the time in his wedding ceremony when he made a covenant with his wife, and with God. Marriage is much more serious than many people realize, because God is the most important witness there and he expects us to keep our promise to each other, and more importantly, to him.