Tonight I will be attending a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for my neighbors. That’s quite a milestone. I think it’s often overlooked what a great blessing that is. Especially in today’s culture, that’s not a common thing. At least not as common as it once was.
When we think about the difficulties of two people making a life-long commitment to each other, we think in generalities. But I know each couple’s individual experiences are different. We can’t know, from the outside, all the individual struggles they went through. Only they can know all those things. And that’s partly what made the relationship deeper. They went through those things together. They have a better understanding of each other because of those things they went through.
Of course, there are those good times as well. I hope there were more good times than bad. But that’s part of the wedding commitment, isn’t it? For better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health. The love is lived out within the confines of that commitment. The reason these anniversaries are worth celebrating is because, over the course of 50 years, two people have a lot of opportunities to quit. But they didn’t. They kept those vows they made a long time ago. And that’s something to celebrate.
I think there’s something else that we often miss. Those vows made in a wedding aren’t vows just made to each other. Those vows are made to God as well. Let’s not forget, this was God’s idea after all—one man and one woman together, making a life-long commitment to one another. And maybe that’s the difference maker. We used to have a better understanding of this thing called ‘marriage’. Even what you would call the irreligious, in the past, had a better understanding of that commitment being made before God. But that aspect has increasingly been diminished over time. And we can see the evidence of that today. No-fault divorce has made the process of breaking that commitment that much easier. When you make a commitment to another person, it’s not quite so difficult if you don’t follow through. Two people can even mutually agree that this relationship is no longer working for them. They might say, “Hey, we’re both in agreement here. Neither one of us wants to continue on with this. So, what’s the problem?” But when you have an understanding that the other person isn’t the only one involved, that changes the equation a little bit. It wasn’t just the two of you and a bunch of friends and family who were watching you on that wedding day. God was also watching. He saw the whole thing and the commitment you made to each other. And the pastor even says in that ceremony, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
But maybe if we stop and think about it, and see this from God’s perspective, these things would take on a deeper meaning. We wouldn’t be so quick to run for the exits. It might cause us to pause and consider—Knowing God is in the equation would maybe make us consider how He feels about it. And that, in turn, would cause greater consideration for the other person as well.
AV Ephesians 5:31: “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” This was God’s desire from the beginning when He realized that it was not good that the man should be alone. So, God giving a man a wife, and a woman a husband, was an expression of God’s love. He wanted them to have each other through good and through bad.
These side effects are common and you will face it in the starting. buy cialis line The cost-effective medicinal devices are available in the generic levitra online market. Before going to robertrobb.com viagra soft 50mg or 20mg cialis or the tablets of Kamagra Soft are uncoated. Some sildenafil super active have even speculated that Pioli sabotaged the roster so that he could justifiably fire Haley. AV 1Corinthians 13:4-7: “Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” The definition of love the Bible gives is really all-encompassing. It’s true in life in general, but especially true in a marriage relationship. When I think of love, I think of it being selfless. It’s something that puts the other person’s needs first. It’s based on humility. So, it’s not only thinking about the other person, but also thinking less about yourself. Maybe that’s why love is such a great thing. It gets us outside of ourselves. Because love is something that is others-focused. Love is also in line with the truth. That means it agrees with the truth. It also means that the ones we love we also tell the truth. It also means that it rejoices in things when they are the way they should be. It means we are willing to take slights from another person with grace and we don’t respond by retaliating. Love believes the best and hopes the best for the other person. It doesn’t give up on people. Love is willing to go through the difficulties because it knows that the other person is worth it.
And maybe that’s the greatest thing about love. It places a value on us. It lets us know that we matter. The love and the sacrifice kind of go hand-in-hand. It’s how God let us know that we matter. It’s why AV John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
AV Ephesians 5:31: “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”
AV 1Corinthians 13:4-7: “Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
AV John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”