Marriage: Accept No Substitues

I've been close to getting married before but for different reasons it just didn't work out. I had to evaluate whether I was considering marriage for the right reasons. I had to ask questions like "Is this truly the man God has for me or do I like the fact that someone said they loved me enough to entertain the thought of me being their wife for the rest of their life?". I can be a lot to deal with. I had to reevaluate if our beliefs and values truly aligned or was I skewing reality. 

Marriage is a lifelong commitment if I am going to be with someone for THE REST OF MY LIFE I can accept no substitutes. When I get married I'm getting married once. Plenty of people say this before they get married but not everyone means it. Before some get married or when a problem arises they say "well if he does this I'm going to divorce him" you can't go into a marriage already coming up with prerequisites for divorce. The man I marry needs to have the same sentiments and truly mean it. The "D" word is not allowed. Try and leave me if you want to ...this is "til death do us part" buddy. Marriage is serious not just something to do when you're on an emotional high. We can be so desperate to experience love through marriage that we are blind to the truth. We don't really seek God on the matter and we don't really take time to understand what marriage is.

Marriage is a sacred covenant, a vowel between God, a husband and a wife. Marriage is two people coming together as one to exemplify God's love for his people. Marriage is the foundation of a family. Some people call it a piece of paper but it is so much more than that unfortunately most people have devalued marriage to the worth of paper. Some say they want a fairy tale marriage with a happily ever after. I think people forget about allll the turmoil that goes on before the happily ever after takes place. If you want a happily ever after you may have to go through some things to get there. Some people don't think marriage is important. They don't think there is a need to get married. If you're a Christian you should not think this way. I'm not saying you have to get married but understand the value and understand what your life should look like if you decide not to get married. Oh and for goodness sake marriage is not about having the biggest most elaborate wedding ceremony.

In a time where we see more divorce than marriage and more unhappy couples than happy couples your outlook on marriage may be a picture of gloom and doom but I truly believe that the institution of marriage is God ordained and can be a beautiful union when done the right way. 

To all those who have been divorced there can be restoration or someone that God will join you together with. Don't put yourself together with someone that's God's job. To all my unhappy married folks dig into God's word he can turn the worst of marriages around. To all my singles reading this don't give up hope of God sending you the right person to marry. Have faith, believe and ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES. 

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