Preparing for Vows: A Plan for Engaged Couplesنموونە

I promise always to share with you life’s greatest gift, God’s gift of love

In many vows you’ll see some version of “I promise to always love you,” or “I promise always to share with you life’s greatest gift, God’s gift of love.”

Love isn’t butterflies in your gut or a warm feeling in your heart. Love is a gift that God gives us and like it so clearly states in 1 John, we can only love because God first loved us.

What will help you to share God’s gift of love with your future spouse when times are tough? How will you love them when they leave their dirty socks on the floor? Or when they say something that hurts you to your core? How will you love them when they disappoint you? When you walk through a tragedy together?

The only way to live in a covenant love that needs to last forever is to lean on God. God is the One who will help you love your spouse when times are difficult. Your future spouse is a sinner. They will disappoint you. Trusting God and asking the Holy Spirit to help you forgive and hold fast to the promise you made is what will make your love last truly till death do you part.

I’ve been married for 11 years now to a wonderful man named Dylan. But that man is also a sinner, and so am I. I can tell you first hand there have been times where I didn’t want to love him or share love with him. One thing that has kept me motivated to keep working on my marriage and loving my husband is to remind myself that I made a covenant to God. I didn’t just make a covenant to my husband; I made a promise to God that I would love my husband till death do us part. If it were just up to my commitment to Dylan I don’t know that I would have stuck it out through every trial. But my commitment isn’t just to Dylan, it’s, more importantly, to God. It’s because of my commitment to God that I choose to keep my covenant.

God loved us so much that He gave His only son to have a relationship with us. He bore the consequences of our sins and took on His own wrath that we deserved. His love for us is honestly quite reckless. He loves us with an unbounded love. He did something so beautiful through His sacrifice. His love and sacrifice is what motivates me to love others and to keep loving my husband.

As you prepare for your upcoming wedding, I encourage you to meditate on God’s gift of love. How does God’s love inspire you to love your future spouse?

Challenge: Pray and meditate on what it means to “share God’s gift of love” with your future spouse. Pray 1 John 4: 7-19 over yourself and your marriage. Ask God to help you live in love, to walk in Christ’s confidence, and to drive out fear.