Topic: THE MARRIAGE COVENANT
THEME SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 2:25 (KJV)
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
MESSAGE:
In the first devotion in this series, we defined marriage as a covenant relationship between a man and a woman, which has binding aspects, and goes with some form of responsibilities. Before we look at what the binding aspects and responsibilities of marriage are, we will first discuss what the marriage covenant is.
Every human being born of a woman, goes through, at least, one of the three phases of human relationship. The first phase is “Dependence.” A one-day old baby is 100% dependent on the parents or caregivers for everything. Even our Lord Jesus Christ at birth, was 100% dependent on His parents for everything. As a baby grows, he/she goes through various levels of independence until they become totally independent of parental authority and control.
This “Total Independence” is the second phase of human relationship. At the independent phase, one is said to have reached adulthood or maturity. Maturity is a stage in life where one takes decisions and makes choices and is prepared to be 100% responsible for the consequences. The third and final phase of all human relationships is “Interdependence.” This is the phase every marriage is expected to operate at. Interdependence in marriage means, “I depend on you and you depend on me; and we BOTH have agreed and covenanted to do so mutually.”
I dare say that some people are better of at the independent phase of human relationship, because marriage is not a contract where you can just walk in and walk out at will; it is a covenant! And the marriage covenant works at interdependence, not independence. A covenant is binding so long as both the husband and his wife are alive. That’s why you don’t enter into marriage unadvisedly.