The Bible celebrates an exalted view of marriage.
Our culture, on the other hand, propagates many myths about it. And, quite frankly, one of those myths is that marriage is just a legal contract. But in the Book of Malachi, God calls marriage a spiritual covenant. And He emphasized the spiritual component by explaining that when that covenant is broken, people are actually breaking faith (see Malachi 2:14).
If marriage is only a contract, it is disposable. For those who see it this way, if a marriage does not work out, they simply mutually decide to terminate the agreement. Others, because they view marriage as a simply a social custom, put off getting married. Instead, they live together. They rationalize that it is a way of making sure the relationship is really going to work. Interestingly, statistics now show that people who live together before marriage are more likely to divorce than those who do not. As it turns out, living together doesn’t prepare people for marriage; it prepares them to keep their options open.
I appreciate that the Bible views marriage as a spiritual covenant. There are nearly 300 references to the word “covenant” in the Bible. A covenant was an exclusive, solemn and binding mutual agreement between two parties before God. Second only to your decision to follow Christ, your marriage vow is the most important spiritual commitment you’ll ever make.
Maybe it is time to rethink marriage. Instead of buying into the myths of our culture, let’s embrace the clarity, challenge, and satisfying joy for a lifetime that is offered in God’s Word.
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