Marriage Questions

Our state Supreme Court recently upheld Georgia’s Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriages in our state. I voted for the amendment two years ago and am glad the court ruled for its retention in the state constitution. I see nothing that benefits our society by allowing such unions.

Same-sex marriage has not been an issue for me personally as my denomination forbids its ministers from participating in such ceremonies. By the same token, I hope that we do not forget that all persons be they heterosexual or homosexual are persons of sacred worth. God loves us all and we must never forget that.

I am far more concerned these days by many of the marriages that do take place than I am by those marriages that are illegal. I really can’t remember every couple that I have married over the years. To the best of my knowledge only two of the couples that I have married have divorced, which is better than the rate of society at large. That said every time I marry a couple I do so with a sense of trepidation, even as I celebrate their love for each other.

I often wonder if the couples I marry understand the gravity of the commitment they are making. Do they understand that they are standing before God and promising to live as husband and wife? Do they really understand that those things we say about for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, are really serious subjects.

I often wonder if couples are so excited about planning a wedding and a honeymoon that they forget about the strengthening the marriage that is to follow.

Please don’t take this to mean that I am down on marriage or down on those whom I marry. I am not. What I am saying is that I feel a certain responsibility for those whom I marry.

Great marriages don’t just happen; rather great marriages are built. Great marriages are built upon a foundation of faith in Christ and by a belief that God is an essential ingredient in that marriage.

I will not be so presumptuous to say that a marriage with faith at its core will never have problems. Sure there will be ups and downs, good times and bad times. However, I am also as certain that a marriage with faith at its core will have the strength to overcome the problems and the difficult times it encounters.

There are those that maintain that the marriage is under attack by certain forces in our society.

That may be so. However, the greatest threat to the institution of marriage comes from those who do marry but do not include God in the equation.