On August 31st, Floyd and I will celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary.  At this time in our married life, he is my best friend.  And he was my best friend when we got married.  But it wasn’t always like that.

Our son, Toby, is having marital problems.  On August 31st, he and Amy will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.  That date, by the way, coincides with ours by mere coincidence.  Toby and Amy didn’t realize that they got married on our wedding anniversary.

Our daughter, Jamie, said to me, “Toby’s been married for almost five years now, and that’s about the same time that Josh and I started having problems.”  I have been told that the fifth and sixth years of marriage are the hardest.  That’s when reality sets in, and a lot of marriages end in divorce during those years.

I said to Jamie, “You want to hear a secret?  That’s also when Dad and I started having problems.  And during those years, and a few years that followed, we weren’t best friends.”

So what kept us together and helped us work through the challenges while Jamie and Josh ended up in divorce court?  Both of us are committed to Jesus.  And in Matthew 19:8 Jesus said, “…Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.”  Knowing this, when Floyd and I got married, we agreed that divorce was not an option.  “Till death do we part” was a commitment to God Almighty.  And when we started having marital problems, my commitment to my marriage weakened, but my commitment to my Savior stood strong.  The same with Floyd. And although our commitments to each other wavered, neither of us wanted to disappoint God, so we held onto the notion that “divorce wasn’t an option.”

Both of us maintained that commitment.  That’s how we were able to stay together, draw close to each other, and not simply maintain civility toward one another, but love to be together.  Without a doubt, Floyd is my best friend.

Now, in order to maintain a commitment like that to God, you must remember three things.

  • You need to spend time in His Word – to read it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on it. How else can you get to know God’s will and ways?
  • You need to spend time with Him in prayer.  How else can you communicate with Him as you need to?
  • You need to be serving God in a Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church.  How can you maintain a serious commitment regarding your marriage when you are not committed enough to obey God in the simple tasks of daily living, such as attending church visitation or faithful church attendance?

Jamie’s commitment to God was not strong enough to endure the hardships, and Josh had no commitment to God. Jamie is now remarried, going on five years.  She and her second husband both have a strong commitment to God – a commitment that should help her marriage overcome the challenges of life.

What kind of commitment do you have?

 

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