Biblical Womanhood: True love isn't stamped with an expiration date

Monday, September 24, 2007

True love isn't stamped with an expiration date

Anna has a great post here on the crazy phenomenon proposed by a German politician that marriages should expire after seven years.

The whole discussion - as Anna said - is so ludicrous, but it hits home to the fact that this culture has completely lost sight of the meaning of marriage. God, the original Creator of marriage, clearly instituted marriage as between one man and one woman for life. Marriage is not a contract that we choose to discard at whim, marriage is a covenant between two persons in the sight of God "till death do us part."

In this age of instant gratification, marriages are fast becoming just another disposable commodity. As long as it feels good, stay in it. When the going gets tough, move on.

But is that true love? Of course not.

True love overlooks the shortcomings, it keeps on loving even when the tough times hit. True love is not a disposable commodity.

And that is why God created earthly marriages to be a picture of our Heavenly marriage. Christ has loved His Bride, the Church, even when we error, even when we go our own way, even when we fall down. He doesn't give up on us just because we are struggling.

As Christians, we have the incredible privilege of showing a beautiful testimony to the world of a God-honoring marriage which depicts Christ and the Church. No, we won't ever have a perfect marriage on this earth, but we can have a little taste of our Heavenly marriage as we seek to follow the principles found in God's Word concerning marriage.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Ephesians 5:22-33

Graphic from AllPosters.com

26 Comments:

Kelly said...: Amen to that, Crystal! :0) It's ironic that you posted this, because I started posting a series called "Making Proverbs 31 Practical" on my blog last week! Have a wonderful Monday, mama!; 7:50 AM
Elizabeth said...: It kind of substaniates that the only TRUE marriage is one under GOD then, doesn't it? Governments will continue finding ways to take more in taxes from us...but they are ALL every one of them, simply temporary, both in earth terms and moreso, in Heavenly ones. So long as I married UNDER GOD and made my vows before HIM, I always felt it was the REAL marriage...we simply went through the hoops the govt imposed on us in those days. We had to have bloodwork in those days before marriage...as well as liscence. But there was no meaning to us what was required by that...only what took place before GOD and witnesses. We have never returned to the courthouse to celebrate that...we return to the sanctuary of the church we married in...that is the memories and the meaning!!; 7:51 AM
Anonymous said...: i'd have been so sad to have my marriage expire on our 7th yr....devastated...

how ,many people having a tough time, will simply not renew instead of working on it

how many people will simply not renew due to cost and then not be married

marriages evolve, they grow they change, and we have to WORK at them, something i know my sister has never understood....

people give up too easy now...but this way the work would be done for them.....after 7 yrs, yep see ya later....

Celina in Canada; 8:05 AM
Pinkology said...: This reminds me of something in my heritage.
In ancient Scottish tradition when a couple weds they would do so with a "handfasting" and they would be married for one year.
On a year and a day they would decide if they wanted to be together forever or go their separate ways.
My husband and I incorporated a handfasting into our ceremony (oddly enough 7 years ago this week) but we did so in lieu of lighting a unity candle as we wanted to pay homage to our rich Scottish ancenstry but we were really fasting our hands together for life.; 8:48 AM
A Dusty Frame said...: Why choose 7 years? Is that the number that just popped in his head?
That's so odd.; 9:13 AM
Simply Stork said...: This is so sad...With that mindset...what's next...bailing on children becoming the "norm." We as mothers don't just walk out on our children if we have had a hard time with them...we love them through the process. Shouldn't we be expected to love that child's father in the same way? Just a thought.
~simply stork~; 9:23 AM
Crystal said...: Great thought, Simply Stork!; 9:36 AM
MM said...: Crystal,

Indeed!

The Church has always understood that, given Christ's teaching on the indissolubility of marriage, marriage is a sacrament- a heavenly reality literally created in the soul and conferred on one another by the marrying spouses. Christian marriage is not a matter of lasting affection, expediency, or even serious agreement, although these elements are involved. Ontologically, a valid marriage *cannot* go away; marriage is literally engraved in the persons of the spouses for the duration of their lives... whether they like it or not!

"The two have (really) become one flesh."; 9:49 AM
Stephanie @ ATime4Everything.com said...: Unfortunately, mothers do bail on thier children in many times, if not physically they do so emotionally.

This is why traditional dating should be looked upon as practice for divorce, as the emotional ties that are made are not with the mindset of any long term commitment. I think this spills over into home life as well. There are many homes where there are no real emotional attachments, just physical existence.

There are also German physicians who believe that you can annihilate a baby after they are born if the parents change their mind. Do we have a rising Sodom and Gomorrah?; 10:25 AM
Anonymous said...: Marriage expiration date? It's a constitution, not a bottle of milk!; 10:28 AM
Sheri said...: Crystal, yet another reason to carry the torch of strong Biblical and family values. Our world is in desperate need of men and women who believe marriage is "until death do us part." It's not a simple "contract" to be broken, but a lifetime commitment of love, honor, and devotion.; 10:52 AM
Anna S said...: I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's feeling absolutely flabbergasted after hearing about it!; 11:11 AM
Tracy said...: People never cease to amaze me. I can not comprehend some of the things people come up with!; 11:36 AM
Anonymous said...: They did a poll of europeans and the vast majority think this is nuts as well. I actually found it refreshing to think that most think its as insane and sad as we do. I read it last night- I'll try to find the link and post it.; 11:41 AM
Anonymous said...: My two cents on this post and other post Crystal linked to: has society really sunk that low as to try and stamp MARRIAGES with an expiration date?? Not only can people terminate their marriages whenever they please, but not society wants to put an expiration date on them??? Divorce is against the Bible, as is the 'termination of marriages after seven years.' I am appalled, as you can see. The Bible says nothing about terminating marriages after a certain year. Great post, Crystal. I also agree with the comment by simply stork...if people don't mean 'till death do us part,' in their ceremony, they shouldn't get married. ~~Meghan from PA.~~; 11:46 AM
Crystal said...: Anonymous (11:41): I was really glad to see that most people thought this was crazy, too - at least that's the impression I get from the article. Who knows? Maybe this will be a wake up call to some since I think people fail to realize that how loosely marriages are really taken nowadays we might as well have them stamped with an expiration date. Maybe it will cause some to realize just how bad things have gotten.

By the way, send me the link if you find it. I'd be interested in taking a look.; 1:26 PM
Tammy C said...: How wierd!

!
Here are a couple links refering to the 7th year itch:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=230011&page=2

http://www.greggriffin.com/Editorials/Seven%20Year%20Itch.htm

By the way how ironic to read your blog on this subject just after viewing pictures of Adrian and Susan's wedding.; 2:37 PM
Lisa said...: I happened to click on your 'homeschooling' line to the left and was wondering if you would mind posting what YOUR new routine is right now? thanks Lisa; 2:42 PM
Martha A. said...: How sad! it would have been an "easy" out for someone who marriage got really difficult at 7 years, but you know that is when you really learn what true love is. When your husband is so ill that he does not even know he is married to you, should I have just said "Oh well, time was up anyhow!"
You know, in one way they say this is easy, it is best, but the years of pain and the people divorce affects does not make it an "easy out"; 3:01 PM
Erin said...: I had seen this online too. I was glad to see that you posted about it. It is so sad to see how marriage is regarded. I am in my first year and think "I can't wait till I can say 50 yrs"! If we wanted to give up on each other so easily we could have done so by now...why wait 7 years? Really why get married at all if you feel that way? Take notice also that the women who is proposing it has been married several times. Maybe she should evaluate what is wrong with her rather than placing her terms on everyone!; 3:33 PM
Brittany said...: Hi Crystal! I read your post about the Values Voter Debate... I had the honor of attending... it was amazing!

Did you hear about Vertical Day? http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=VerticalDay.Home&l=3CF000142FE57F487EB808B59D0BC605; 4:13 PM
Anonymous said...: I had heard of the '7-year itch' before getting married, and unfortunately for us there WAS a 7-year itch and our first 7 years were not all that great! :( However, God began to do amazing things in our hearts and in our marriage that year and I cannot imagine having ended it and not having these 2nd 7 years, which have been absolutely WONDERFUL! :)

I think the thing we're missing in all this -- we've lost sight of COVENANT. We don't understand what they understand in the middle east and in bible times -- the true meaning of a blood covenant. So sad. Unfortunately, this isn't being passed on within families and not within the church. So sad.; 9:16 PM
Lisamarie said...: A missionary once visited our church, and he said in his region of Mexico, there literally was a 7 year marriage. Most people opted for this, and the kids born during those years were had horrible emotional scars from the lack of domestic security.

I don't know how you could feel married if you knew it wasn't for life!; 3:24 AM
Shannon said...: The whole expiration date thingy, another liberal flop that I won't adhere to. May this feminists' idea expire thus even sooner.; 5:24 AM
KIM said...: Can we really be all that surprised? In this society where premarital children is just as common as the traditional family; where the term marriage now includes same-sex couples; where marriage is 'optional' for those on long term, live-in relationships?
No, I am not surprised anymore by what the ungodly come up with to justify their self-serving sins. Call me cynical, but it will only get worse from here. All the more reason for all of to stand and say that we know the way to true happiness. Happiness in marriage, in raising families, in our day-to-day living! May God keep our eyes on the big prize!; 11:40 AM
Sonny said...: What the German politician left out was that a lot of prenups are only good for 8-10 years where they will hold up to court room stuff. Laws change. Pre-nps become void.(My ex step father-in-law found this out when my mother-in-law divorced him after 26 years of marriage.). Also if a marriage ends early the wife or husband is entitled to LESS. That varies as well but under 10 years generally.
I have been married for 16 years and 8 mths and 2 days ans 3 hours.Tim was a God send. My husband literally saved me and I him. We were both WILD.We have 2 BEAUTIFUL children. I would not be here now without God.; 9:07 PM

Monday, September 24, 2007

True love isn't stamped with an expiration date

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