A Lasting Commitment.

Don't you love reading the people & events portion of the newspaper? You can find out about all the upcoming or recent weddings, births, and celebrations. I especially love to read about 50th wedding anniversaries (occasionally you even see a 60th). It reaffirms my faith in the institute of marriage. Yesterday, two very special people, Uncle Wade and Aunt Lovie, celebrated their 57th anniversary. I am so inspired by both of them. As with any marriage, they have experienced good and bad times.  In this day, it is believed that approximately 50% of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. What has made the difference in my aunt and uncle's marriage? I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it is the Lord. You see, the foundation or basis of their relationship is their love for God. In the fifth chapter of Ephesians we read about the Biblical roles for husbands and wives. Verses 22-28 tell us, "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.". That's a mouthful isn't it. I believe that as a wife submits to her husband she is also submitting to Christ by obeying His word. The husband, in obedience to God, loves his wife as he loves his own self. This is what I see in Aunt Lovie's and Uncle Wade's marriage. Just imagine a triangle with the wife in one bottom angle and the husband in the other bottom angle. Now envision Christ at the top of the triangle. When you draw the triangle out, you will notice that the line from the husband and the line from the wife get closer and closer until they finally come together in one point under Christ. That's what loving and obeying God will do for you and your spouse. Bring you closer and closer together, until you become one. I'm so thankful for the encouragement I get when I watch my aunt and uncle living out their faith in real life. I would love to be able to have the same kind of testimony with my husband. A lasting commitment....it's what I want. How about you?