…To have thee, hold thee, love, cherish and honour thee. I do solemnly promise before God, to be thy loving and faithful wife, to be true and loyal to thee in every condition of life: from poverty to prosperity, from sickness to health, from the curse to the blessing. I promise to keep myself unto thee and unto thee only, till death do us part.
Those were my wedding vows, okay, not all but most of it. Most times when in reflection, I wonder why I seem to forget the vows I made on my wedding day. I made these vows eleven years, eight months and nineteen days ago, and for the most part I have not thought about these words nor deliberately, consciously planned to make good my promise.
No, I am not beating up myself, I have not been a terrible wife but I know if put side by my side the vows I made to my husband, I wouldn’t be able to say, I have kept them in earnest.
No, I am not beating up myself, I have not been a terrible wife but I know if put side by my side the vows I made to my husband, I wouldn’t be able to say, I have kept them in earnest.
I know it is so for most of us married people, we get so excited on our wedding days and make all these fantastic vows, promises and then, maybe just at the honey moon; we tear our very words apart. Some of us take time to write our own vows, our heart, what we desire to be to our husbands or wives yet, when the opportunity to be or do those things presents itself we fail.
What if every man and woman made up their minds to fulfil their vows and stick to their words? What if we took our wedding vows more seriously and not reduce them to mere words spoken in a moment of excitement. Would it help to keep reminding ourselves that those words were more than just words, to perhaps write them out or print them and put them in a place where we would continually see them so as to be reminded of our promises to each other? Would it help to know that they are not ordinary promises but covenants made and recognised by The One who joined the first ever couple, The One who instituted marriage?
As men and women of integrity, we should desire and seek to keep our words, make our words good, more so our wedding vows. Whether or not our spouses are faithful to theirs should not be a decisive factor for us. We are responsible at all times and in every condition for our actions and cannot put the blame on our spouses; any such blame is most times unacceptable. We should all do our own bits to the very best of our abilities.
Do you remember your wedding vows? The words you spoke with heart, eyes and mouth filled with love and passion for your spouse? That moment when your heart beats raced and you had happy visions or dreams of how wonderful your lives together would be. When you slipped the ring into his/her finger and thought to yourself that that was the day and the one you’ve been waiting for, do you remember? Do you remember how you wrote and rewrote the words you were going to say to him/her, checking to ensure that you wrote it just the way you felt it in your heart of hearts, do you remember.
Or have you forgotten? Have you forgotten that you loved him/her enough to trust him/her with your heart and future? Have you forgotten to remember the words you spoke to your spouse wishing he/her could open your heart and see how you felt inside? Have you forgotten and allowed the pressures you face to affect your integrity to your spouse and the God who was part of the covenant? Have you forgotten?
Let me share an excerpt from a song I love so much by Bebe and Cece Winans- These What Abouts
…Cause what about the plans we made
What about the dreams of cascades
What about the vows we pledged
Are they still alive or dead
And what about the promise to stay
Can I still believe it’s ok
Can we somehow talk about these what abouts…
God will hold us accountable for the vows we made, after all, we made it before Him. It would indeed truly make a huge difference if we remember our wedding vows and determine to keep them, or don’t you think?
What about the vows we pledged
Are they still alive or dead
And what about the promise to stay
Can I still believe it’s ok
Can we somehow talk about these what abouts…
God will hold us accountable for the vows we made, after all, we made it before Him. It would indeed truly make a huge difference if we remember our wedding vows and determine to keep them, or don’t you think?
1 John 2:25 ESV
But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
Numbers 30:2 ESV
If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Emphasis mine
ugochi-jolomi/BWbi
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this is awesome. thank YOU! found you via the blog hop xo
Thanks for the follow!
God’s grace!
Thank you for the excellent reminder and now I will be following you too!
Thanks for stopping by, have a blessed weekend!
God’s grace!
This is such a beautiful post. My husband and I just celebrated our 12th anniversary in April. While I take our vows seriously, I haven’t actually reflected on the actual words we pledged to each other at our wedding in a very long time. I think it would do all married couples a lot of good sit down and reflect on the vows and remember what we promised each other.
Hi Sarah,
Congratulations on your anniversary! I agree that it would do us all a lot of good if we reflect on our vows.
Thanks for stopping by and the follow back.
God bless!
Thank you for following me (My Life Unmasked) I am following you via email! I am really excited to read your blog. Each of your words are filled with passion and hope…it is a refreshing change!
You are welcome Amber,
And thanks for visiting, I am grateful you found this refreshing.
God’s grace!
Hi Ugochi,
Thank you so much for your article. It is amazing, I have been married for almost 22 years and something you do take that union for grated as life situations get in the way. I’ve had a trying week with my husband out of town and trying to manage everything. When I spoke to him last night, something I forget the vows that we took and to remember that we are a unit verses individuals. Thank you so much for reminding me of the important decision I made and hope I should be teaching that gift.
Cynthia
I am glad you are reminded. We all do need to take our wedding vows seriously, because they are serious. Thanks for stopping by.
God’s grace!
It makes me want to get married soon…
But I’m still doing my degree and still want to focus on my education
But my sister will be married by this September
Follow my blog at
http://www.arikayasmine.blogspot.com
It’s a good desire to get married, but for a right time. I pray you have the best in your education. And I wish a great wedding and marriage for your sister.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings!
Thank you for coming over to my blog and visiting, I love your blog thanks for the invite. This is a very powerful post, I said those vows 15 years ago when I was 21, I can say through the years I had to grow, and now we have to understand what we vowed before God and my spouse. Thank you for the reminder!
Thanks for visiting too Pamela, congratulations on your 15th year! We all have to grow up to make a bliss out of our marriages.
God’s grace!
I love reading our posts Ugochi, they really make me think. We have a bible that the minster who married us gave Jason right after he married us and the vows we spoke are in there. I used to read them all the time but it has been over a year now since I’ve read them.
That is so thoughtful Kendra. Keeping your vows so safe. It is a good thing you have been doing, please resume and keep refreshing your mind. I need to wake up to this too.
I appreciate your visits and comments.
Love