From the very beginning, God made us male and female in His own image, and gave the Earth to us and our posterity. He gave us talents and ability to use here so that we might seek our enjoyment and happiness in His service (Genesis 1:27-28).

We read in Mark (10:6-9) that it is for this reason that a man and a woman shall leave his and her parents and bond with each other as one flesh and one spirit. A husband and wife promise to each other and to God a life-long union that no one may separate.

And in God’s name (Yahweh/Jehovah/Adonai), a husband and wife walk together, fulfilling His word with their lives and their love (Psalm 148). For love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, who sent his Son into the world so we might know Him, love Him and live through Him. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-13)

In 1 Corinthians 7:3, God tells husbands to give their wives the love that is due to them, and likewise wives to their husbands. But what is love, actually? In Galatians (5:22-23), God tells us that love is patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Later in 1 Corinthians (13:1-10), He says love is the greatest virtue of all because it comes without conditions, it is guiltless, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things, it rejoices with the truth and does not allow for resentment or preconceived notions.

In practical terms, God is telling us that love is directed from one spouse to the best within the other, and vise versa. We all have faults and shortcomings, and yes, these are to be forgiven through our love, but these are not the focus of our love or of our attention. It is the virtues and abilities that we see in our spouse that attract us to him or her, and it is the potential for those virtues and abilities that drive us to bind our lives together. In short, marital love when it is done right is not only faith in another person, but a rational understanding that the other person is good and worthy to share with us our lives and honor. With patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, we love our spouse most by helping him or her achieve the best he or she is capable of, for both body and soul. We stand by and support our husbands and wives as they pursue their own dreams, and they stand by and support us as we pursue ours. It is in that pursuit that we share our dreams and the happiness that comes with their achievement. Not any less important, a husband and wife together instill the same virtues in the children they bring into the world together, and nurture their abilities until they bind with a spouse of their own. It is this that God wants for us, for husbands and wives, and their children. It is such marriages that create the foundation for civilization, and for God’s Kingdom on Earth.

Marriage is good and honorable because a husband and wife can give each other everything that is needed for a complete and happy life. (Hebrews 13:4). Still, the most important gift they give each other is a rational, thoughtful love, and that kind of love, which is real and absolute, will never fail. (1 Corinthians 13:8) May God bless you Joe and Tammy and bind you today and always in an enduring, unconditional love that is good for you and all of us who share in the same covenant.