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“The Commitments Involved in Saying, “I Do!””
The Commitments Involved in Saying, “I Do!”
David Sproule
Have you ever been to a wedding, and—while the preacher was going through the “Do you promise to…?” and the “Do you promise to…?”—have you ever thought, “Did I really commit to all of that when I got married?” For those who are married, a wedding can be a great way to be reminded of what marriage is and what commitments are inherent in the Divinely-ordained union. If you’re married and if you haven’t been to a wedding recently and witnessed a living reminder of the vows you made (or even if you have been to a wedding recently), consider carefully the commitment that you were making when you said “I do!”
Husbands, here is what you committed! You committed to “leave father and mother” and “cleave” to your wife (Gen. 2:24); to be the “head” of the home, to “love” her, “nourish” her, “cherish” her (Eph. 5:23-33); to “provide” for her (1 Tim. 5:8); to “render the affection due her,” “to please your wife” (1 Cor. 7:2-5, 33); to “dwell with her with understanding” and to “give honor” to her (1 Pet. 3:7).
Wives, here is what you committed! You committed to “love” him, “obey” him (Tit. 2:4-5); to “submit” to him, to be “subject” to him, to “respect” him (Eph. 5:22-33); to “manage the house” (1 Tim. 5:14; Tit. 2:5); to be “chaste,” “adorned” with a “gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Pet. 3:1-6); to “render the affection due him,” “to please your husband” (1 Cor. 7:2-5, 34).
Husbands and wives, here is what you both committed to each other! In addition to the Divine instructions above, you committed to “increase and abound in love to one another” (1 Thess. 3:12), have “compassion for one another” (1 Pet. 3:8), be “like-minded toward one another” (Rom. 15:5), “consider one another” (Heb. 10:24), “give preference to one another” (Rom. 12:10), “submit to one another” (Eph. 5:21), “be kindly affectionate to one another” (Rom. 12:10), “bear with one another” (Eph. 4:2), “forgive one another” (Eph. 4:32), “receive one another” (Rom. 15:7), “encourage one another daily” (Heb. 3:13), “serve one another” (Gal. 5:13), “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2), “comfort each other” (1 Thess. 5:11), “admonish one another” (Rom. 15:14), “confess trespasses to one another and pray for one another” (Jas. 5:16) and “have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25). You committed to do “nothing… through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind” to “esteem” your spouse as “better than” yourself (Phil. 2:3).
Maybe you don’t remember committing to all of that, but that is what God expects of husbands and wives “until death do us part.” May God help us keep our vows!
