The Covenant is Permanent!

Husband:  “Don’t expect me to lift a finger to help you.”

            Wife:  “You’re too much of an idiot to know how to help.”

            Both:  “But were in it for the long haul, just like Jesus wants.”

Our marriage covenant is about what we can give, not get.   We entered the covenant for the benefit of our spouse, not for our own gain.  We made some unconditional promises about love and faithfulness when we married each other.  Our relationship is founded on commitment; we have a steadfast love for each other.  Our covenant is characterized by for forgiveness.  Grace and mercy are vital to every marriage!

Those are the characteristics of a covenant relationship that we have examined to this point for Gary Chapman’s book Covenant Marriage.  The final characteristic is permanency.

You may be thinking, “Well, of course.  Everybody knows it’s permanent.”  Yes. The covenant calls for a lifetime of togetherness, but it’s more than that.  You see, we didn’t just promise to live together “until we are parted by death.”  We promised, and God expects that we will mutually submit.  We promised, and God expects, that husbands will love their wives, giving themselves up for their wives.  We promised, and God expects, that wives will submit to their husband, respecting their husbands (Ephesians 1:21-33).

There are way too many Christian couples who continue to live together, but don’t love together.  Our children are growing up in homes where there is yelling, uncontrolled anger, vengeance, cursing, and division; and it makes it seem worse for them to know that it will never end because the mom and dad are committed to the permanency of marriage.  Sadly, these Christian couples see only two solutions.  Continue living in misery or divorce.

There is another solution:  Keep ALL your promises!  Quit yelling, quit sinning in your anger, quit taking revenge, quit cussing, and come together!

Stay together permanently.  Love permanently.  Respect permanently.  What God has joined, let no man separate (Matthew 19:6).