Base Your Marriage on a Covenant

Whitney Hopler

God created marriage as an institution meant to last as long as both spouses live. Divorce deeply wounds the people involved, yet alarmingly, more than half of all new marriages today will end in the ugliness of divorce. That doesn't have to happen!

You're bound to encounter tough times in your marriage, as all couples sometimes do. But you have the power to decide to stay together for life - no matter what - and constantly work to make your marriage the best in can be. When you base your marriage on a covenant with God rather than just a contract, you have the foundation you need to stay - and thrive - together.

Here are some ways you can make and keep a covenant in your marriage:

Adapted from Covenant Marriage: Staying Together for Life, copyright 2002 by Dr. Fred Lowery. Published by Howard Publishing Company, Inc., West Monroe, Louisiana, www.howardpublishing.com.

Dr. Fred Lowery, senior pastor of the 7,000-plus-member First Baptist Church in Bossier City, Louisiana, is the author of three books and the featured speaker on the television program The First Word. He has performed approximately 300 covenant marriages.

Would you say that your marriage is currently based on a contract or a covenant? Why? If you have a covenant marriage, why is that important to you? How has God strengthened your marriage? Visit Crosswalk's forums to discuss this topic:

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