From This Day Forward

Theme of the Week: The Marriage Promise

Bible Verse:  “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9, CSB

Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:16-19

My wife, Amy, and I don’t have a perfect marriage — far from it. But we love each other now more than when we said “I do” more than twenty-three years (and six kids) ago. We’ve discovered that the key to a successful marriage is something you’ve heard before. But you may not have thought about what it means. Your key to a joyful, life-giving marriage begins with your complete understanding of this one simple phrase: “I, (your name here), take you, (your spouse’s name here), to have and to hold, from this day forward.”

Those four little words are packed full of hope, brimming with promise: “From this day forward.”

We say, “I take you for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, I will be faithful to you for as long as we both shall live, so help me, God.”

I think the problem for a lot of us is that we say that last part in a monotone voice, like it’s some kind of pledge we memorized in school like we’re about to be cross-examined in traffic court: “So help me, God.”

Instead, we need to think of it as a request to the only one who can save us: “I’m deciding to do all of these things, and I really, really mean it. So please! Help me, God!”

When we think of it this way, we allow God to take his rightful place in our relationships. We acknowledge our weaknesses, admitting that we know it’s impossible for us to keep our commitments unless we choose to honor him at the very center of our marriage (2 Cor. 12:9). Our commitment to each other is mirrored in our holy covenant before him.

Excerpt from From This Day Forward: Five Commitments to Fail-Proof Your Marriage by Craig and Amy Groeschel. Used with permission.
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About

Craig and Amy Groeschel

Craig and Amy co-founded Life.Church in 1996. As the Senior Pastor of Life.Church Craig provides teaching, leadership, and guidance for the church as a whole. Craig speaks at conferences around the world, has written several books including his latest release, Hope In The Dark: Believing God is Good When Life Is Not, and hosts the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast. Craig and Amy live in the Edmond, Oklahoma area and have six children, three sons-in-law, and two grandkids.

Craig and Amy Groeschel

Craig and Amy co-founded Life.Church in 1996. As the Senior Pastor of Life.Church Craig provides teaching, leadership, and guidance for the church as a whole. Craig speaks at conferences around the world, has written several books including his latest release, Hope In The Dark: Believing God is Good When Life Is Not, and hosts the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast. Craig and Amy live in the Edmond, Oklahoma area and have six children, three sons-in-law, and two grandkids.