Marriage Series - Keep Your Wedding Vows Part 1

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis, and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

From time to time, an engaged couple will ask me to officiate in their wedding ceremony.  Couples who are getting married have many ideas about what they want to include in their wedding and what they do not want included in the ceremony.  I have officiated weddings in my own country and in other countries. And of course, different cultures have different practices concerning the elements of a wedding ceremony.

But as a wedding officiant, there is always one tradition I insist on keeping: the vows must be clear and complete. In some weddings, the congregation sings and soloists sing, in other weddings, there is little or no singing.  In some weddings, communion is served, in others it is not.  In some weddings, there is a special display of unity like the lighting of a common candle or the binding of hands with a rope. The clothing chosen for a wedding differs among different ethnic groups.  All of these elements of a wedding ceremony are nice, but they are not essential.  What is essential are the vows.

There are, I am sure, several ways that the vows can be expressed, but vows like these are of vital importance in a wedding ceremony:

“[Groom] Do you receive this woman as your lawfully wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health; for richer and for poorer, forsaking all others, and keep yourself only to her, so long as you both shall live?”

The groom responds with two very simple words, “I do.”  And those words make all the difference in the world.  Then the bride hears the vows repeated and she also responds with “I do.”

Love  him – this means to take care to do what is best for your spouse no matter what.

Comfort her – means to be with her in times of sorrow, sickness, and loss in order to lessen her pain and bring her hope.

Honor him – means to not despise or criticize publicly, but to respect, build up and show appreciation.

Keep her, keep him – means that your intent is that marriage will last a lifetime and that you will not put away your spouse. 

And now, a really important part, “in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer.” The promises of marriage are not conditioned on health, wealth or prosperity.  They are absolute promises to abide with the other, come what may. 

“Forsaking all others and keep yourself only to her, so long as you both shall live.” Marriage is exclusive. One man, one woman, no intruders, no abandonment, no wandering eyes or wandering hearts.  When we marry, it is to one and only one person. Marriage is for life, “so long as you both shall live.”

These wedding vows are important; these vows are serious. These vows, spoken before many witnesses at a wedding ceremony, provide guardrails that keep us on the straight and narrow road that leads to blessing, peace, and harmony.  So my word of encouragement today is simple: Keep your wedding vows!

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

 

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #WeddingVows