photo by nani

False.

This weekend during our Pre-marital counseling, I learned something about marriage.

Maybe one of the reasons why I’ve been so afraid of marriage is because I think of it as a contract.

Just the word contract makes people grimace. You’ve heard it before:

I’m on a two year contract with Sprint.{sigh} I want to cancel my gym membership but I signed a one year contract. I want to teach in another school distract but I’m on a contract. On the whole, people hate contracts.

Why do we view contracts in a negative light?

Because it feels like someone is taking something away from us. Namely, freedom. They make us feel bound to an institution, a brand or a plan for x amount of time.

It’s a strange concept. I mean, I want to go the gym.

I want to have a phone and talk to people. But as soon as someone forces me to sign a contract, I freeze up.

So it was with the marriage contract.

Then a strange word I’ve heard before came up.

covenant.

Instead of it being about an agreement…

Instead of it being about some external force making me sign on the dotted line…

It was about a promise.

It was about a gift.

It wasn’t about someone forcing me to do something, but me freely and willingly giving something…

Out of love.

And it softened my heart.

Viewing marriage as a covenant instead of a contract feels more like I’m giving someone the gift of my life and my loyalty not because I have to but because my love compels me to.

(More mind ramblings: No wonder they say, “I vow to…” instead of “I agree to…” Agree to sounds like someone throwing up their hands in surrender. Agree to sounds like there are stipulations on the other person’s behavior- I agree to do this if you do this…)

{ahhh…relief}

A vow, a promise, a gift. a covenant. It says and does, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Makes a difference!