Building a Marriage That Will Stand the Test of Time

Marriage is the most intimate of all human relationships, where two separate, unique and whole persons (one male, one female) make a covenant and exchange vows, committing their lives to remain together until death. Marriage is a covenant, a fusion, a legal union and a blending of a man and a woman (not a man and man or woman and woman) in a life-long relationship, which involves an agreement and commitment of these two before witnesses. Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman, intended by God to be a monogamous relationship, and intended to be a permanent bond in which many needs are satisfied; the need to love and be loved, the need for deep friendship, for sharing, for children, for companionship and for sexual satisfaction. It is a bond of love, reflecting the love which Christ has for His people- a bond of sacrificial love where husband and wife have become one flesh in unity. It is a union in which the male and the female (not Adam and Steve) are so caught up by a dream and a purpose bigger than themselves that they will have to work together through the years in spite of repeated disappointments in order to make their dream come true.