In UnisonSýnishorn

Jeremy

When I first started seeing Adrienne, I felt guilty about having feelings for her. It had been a hard season of life after the passing of my first wife, Melissa. I knew I’d have to decide whether to continue pursuing her, and I was leaning toward breaking up with her.

I took Adrienne to an Applebee’s. Tensely, we sat down and ordered our food. I blurted, “Do you think you could marry me?”

Without hesitation, she said, “Yes!”

We weren’t officially engaged, but our conversation had set the tone for our relationship. We were committed to building something with the intention of marriage. Our friendship deepened. I still battled guilt from time to time, but the Lord spoke to me and said, “If I’m giving you a blessing, you can receive it with joy.” Our situation was delicate, but we were excited about what God had for us as we drew nearer to entering the covenant of marriage.

There is a big difference between a contract and a covenant, as this partial list from UpCounsel shows:

• While a contract is legally binding, a covenant is a spiritual agreement.

• You seal a covenant while you sign a contract.

• A contract exchanges goods, while a covenant is giving oneself to the other.

• You can opt out of a contract, while a covenant is about having the strength to hold up your promise.

In the New Testament, God’s relationship with us is described as a marriage covenant. God loves and pursues His church, the bride, based on who He is and not our faithfulness, for we know we have fallen short (Romans 3:23). God the Father loved us first and sealed us with the promise of His Spirit, through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

He is a covenantal God, not contractual. He has given His unending love to us freely and unreservedly, even though we did not choose Him. There are many people who know the Holy Spirit was wooing them before they committed to following Him. Jesus has an unquenchable love for His church. He pursues her passionately and fiercely.

God’s covenanted love is outside time. It transcends boundaries, cultures, hurts, dysfunctions, pain, and scars. This is also the type of supernatural love offered to us for our marriages. When we get married, we make a beautiful covenant with each other before God. As husband and wife become one, each promises to remain committed to the other regardless of circumstances. Such unconditional love is not possible in human hearts, so God—who has never broken a covenant—is the best one to hold the couple together.