I remember when Chocolate and I went through pre-marital counseling in 2010 and one week our homework assignment was to write down 3 things that the other person could do that would lead to a divorce. Well..honey, I filled in my 3 things quickly and added a couple more for bonus points!
Chocolate struggled to find 3 things and when we returned to counseling the next week, he had a blank list as I sat proudly with my list. Well, he was the star student once again as Pastor Jones shared that our lists should be empty!
When you go into marriage with limitations, you are setting yourself up for failure.
What? Huh? Whatchu mean? 🙄
He went on to explain that today, Christian marriage is viewed in three ways: first, as a threefold covenant between God, man, and woman; second, as a contract between the couple and the state; and third, as a pledge of faithfulness between the two being married.
When we acknowledge that God is the sole owner of all things including our marriage and our spouse, how we look at them and the manner in which we treat them changes. We will speak of each other respectfully, we will honor each other’s name in and outside of their presence, we will do all that we can to live out our vows and the covenant that was established on our wedding day.
I agree with those statements, I know that seeing my husband as a loaner gift to me from God reminds me to treat him with respect and honor in those times when I really want to pop him upside his head.
With that said, I still believe that we all have non-negotiable things that could lead us to being back single!
I am wise enough to know that it’s only when one party or both fail to adhere to those three ways of Christian marriages that problems arise.
While I believe that most things can and should be worked out under covenant, I do believe there are some non-negotiables that exist.
Let me know what you all think about this topic in the comments below!