A Forever Love

Nov 3, 2014 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

 

For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.

You may have heard these lines recited at a wedding. They actually come from the Bible in the book of Ruth and are spoken from a recently widowed daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. But they capture the true attitude of covenant and are perfect words for a wedding ceremony between a man and woman beginning their life together.

Why is it that so many in our society today cannot fathom the idea of a forever relationship? That’s a rhetorical question because I actually already know the answer. Do you?

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How to Protect Your Marriage

Oct 6, 2014 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

 

Recently, I had a wonderful afternoon with a former college classmate. We reminisced and caught up on many of our friends who now live all across the United States. One theme that kept coming up in our conversation was the number of divorces among our friends – many of them in ministry. My heart was once again broken. Broken by the lost families. Broken by the lost legacies. Broken by the pain of brokenness.

So how do we protect our marriage from the same tragic end?

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Blog Repost: Marriage Commitment

Dec 18, 2013 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

Reports show that June is the most popular month for weddings. As we enter into the month of June, once again let’s talk more than just weddings. Let’s look at the marriage. I am privileged to perform wedding ceremonies. I enjoy the process of the pre-marital counseling; getting to know the couple better, invest in their lives and the commitment of their lives together as a married couple. We discuss a variety of topics in preparation for the marriage. The wedding is such a wonderful day and celebration but it’s only the beginning of the marriage. The day is important, specifically in the vows that are about to be spoken and made, the lifelong commitment — the covenant of the marriage relationship. Here are some things I like to share with the couple on that special day. These also apply to all of us who desire to someday be married, as well as, remind those of us who may have made those vows years ago. I trust these words will challenge you, inspire you to renew your commitment to one another, and live out those wedding vows. How is your marriage? How are you doing in your commitment to one another in love, honor, respect and cherish? Are you living out the vows you made to be the best you can be for your spouse?

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Marriage Values: Absolute Commitment & Unconditional Love, Part 2

Oct 2, 2013 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

Check out Tuesday’s post for Part 1. Here we continue with some ideas on ways to remain committed to your spouse.

Never use the “D” word.

Divorce is never brought up, discussed, or even thought about in our house. It simply is not an option. We do not threaten each other with divorce. We do not contemplate the idea of divorce. It is not up for discussion. We are two people joined for eternity, through thick and through thin, when we are happy and when we are angry, when we love the other person but maybe not like them so much right now. But we will not walk out that door. We are in this for good.

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Marriage Values: Absolute Commitment & Unconditional Love, Part 1

Sep 30, 2013 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

In our book, Faith Legacy for Couples: Seven Values to Shape Your Marriage, we discuss our seven values to having a healthy, marriage that will leave a legacy to our children and all people with whom we interact.  In previous blogs we have taken the first of the month to cover ideas for living out the Parenting Values. Now let’s look at marriage.

Absolute Commitment and Unconditional Love:

We live in a society of upgrades. You don’t like your phone, upgrade. You want a bigger TV – buy it. Your tired of a piece of software you are using – upgrade to more bells and whistles. We have so many opportunities to get bigger and better that we have possibly allowed that mentality to creep into our thoughts about our marriage.

But a covenant marriage, as God designed, is a forever commitment. There is no option B. You and your spouse are to be bound together from I do to death. Period. (There are some biblical reasons for divorce that we will not discuss at this time.)

Even when you walked down that aisle on your wedding day, you most likely were not thinking, “Well, we’ll see how this works out.” Or, “I’ll give this a try.” No, we were planning to spend the rest of our life with this one person we chose to marry.

So how do we fight against the “upgrade” mentality after the rose-colored glasses have shattered?

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