Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
Don’t most people “kick the tires” before buying a car? Absolutely! So why not “kick the tires,” so to speak, before committing to a lifelong relationship? Seems reasonable. But…not so fast. My purpose this week is to show why living together before marriage is not a part of God’s design. I pray that you will use this information to make godly decisions and give godly counsel.
Taking a test drive before you buy a car. Good move. Trying on a pair of pants to make sure they fit. Yep. Checking out a home before taking on the mortgage, who wouldn’t do that? Even when you order online, you try things out and try things on. So why not live together before marriage?
When you read devotionals pertaining to marriage, some of you may feel like I am rubbing salt in your wounds. That’s certainly not my intent, and for those who have been divorced, I know the pain is deep. And I know many of you tried so hard to keep your marriage together. You can’t undo the past. You desire to make your life count for God. Thank God he offers forgiveness and restoration to us all.
Do you like stylish clothes? I do too. However, I don’t often think about clothes as being violent, even the styles I don’t like! However, there is something that covers our clothes with violence. Let’s consider these verses from the last book in the Old Testament.
You have heard the vows before. Maybe you used these or similar vows on your wedding day. To have and to hold from this day forward. For better or for worse. For richer or for poorer. In sickness and in health. As long as we both shall live. These vows, or ones like them, are spoken at virtually every one of the 5,918 weddings that take place each day in the United States. Unfortunately, too many of those who say, “I do,” end up saying, “I don’t.”