"Do you, Jason take Victoria to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?"
"I Jason , take thee Victoria, to be my wife to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you.."
In a world where words may not mean much to some, I have made a promise to her and that means a lot to me. When we were 21 years old and not married and she told me she was pregnant, I held her as she cried and I promised it would be ok and I would be right by her side no matter what. I meant it. When I said these wedding vows above, I MEANT it.
I PROMISE to love her UNCONDITIONALLY. I will not disgrace her but HONOR her. She is valuable to me, I will CHERISH her as a very valuable treasure. Because I love her I will PROTECT her as a man should do. Most importantly I will not let another catch my eye....I have PROMISED to FORSAKE all others and cling to her alone. If she is sick and needs all my life to help her function or if she is healthy I will dedicate my life to her. If we are rich we will not forget each other and chase after our own desires, if we are poor we will not leave each other because another with money and a "better life" lures us away.
No matter what, as much as I have to do with it, I have vowed before God to be permanently joined to this woman.
Oh, men....please listen to me! How easily we can slip and fail our wives! You say, "Oh, not me" why not....You betray God every time you sin. You and I even betray ourselves....are we not just as capable of betraying our wives?
PLEASE BE CAREFUL!
Fights over money lead to hurt feelings and the two are divided and begin to drift apart. We feel like we don't get the love or attention we deserve and so when a woman comes along who will give us that attention we are drawn to her. That is no better than a toddler! Does your hunger for pleasing yourself really lead you around that easily? Do you follow your desires like a toddler goes after whatever they want? Our selfishness demands our time and our needs BEFORE hers. That is not what the vows we made says.
BE STRONG MEN!
You see maybe as men we are not the husbands we should be because we are not first what a man should be. Will you let your sin and temptations destroy your life, marriage and soul?
BE STRONG! You must first be wise to be strong....you have to know the source of the sin and the dangers that are out there.
Back to the garden of Eden for a moment..... Eve SAW the apple, DESIRED it, then TOOK it.
The mind is where the war is waged. Say for example at work. A woman becomes a little "flirty" with you. Now right from the beginning you must make a decision. Will you "accept" the flirt or close that door? Being friends with a woman may also seem ok, but these are the most dangerous situations. A one night stand with no emotion is bad enough but add in the bond of "friendship" and it is VERY hard to stop it if or when the "flirt" comes. Men a professional work relationship is sometimes required but NEVER let yourself become personally attached with another woman.
I fear a mans selfishness will too easily give in. You must PROMISE yourself to never get past this first gate....it is a quick and slippery slope afterward.
Listen to the scriptures....
| My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding; | |
| That you may observe discretion And your lips may reserve knowledge. | |
| For the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech; | |
| But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. | |
| Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol. | |
| She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know {it.} | |
| Now then, {my} sons, listen to me And do not depart from the words of my mouth. | |
| Keep your way far from her And do not go near the door of her house, | |
| Or you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one; | |
| And strangers will be filled with your strength And your hard-earned goods {will go} to the house of an alien; | |
| And you groan at your final end, When your flesh and your body are consumed; | |
| And you say, "How I have hated instruction! And my heart spurned reproof! | |
| "I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my instructors! | |
| "I was almost in utter ruin In the midst of the assembly and congregation." | |
| Drink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well. | |
| Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? | |
| Let them be yours alone And not for strangers with you. | |
| Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. | |
| {As} a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love. | |
| For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? | |
| For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths. | |
| His own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin. | |
| He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray. |
Oh, men BE STRONG don't be foolish and feed your lusts. She is unstable in her ways. She will ruin your marriage, and if a baby results how much money will go to her? How many families have been destroyed by a simple affair that they thought they could keep secret. Do people know that eyes see them even when they think their sin is hidden? If you think no one knows, you have only fooled yourself.
BE CAREFUL.....oh please BE STRONG stop it at it's first thought. DECIDE you will not give in to your desires....
GOD knows and sees all! If you are a Christian your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Will you involve God in the very sin you commit? Do you not realize He is RIGHT THERE!
Now...finally I say this: If you have not been tempted, thank God and prepare for the day temptation will come, satan desires to devour you like a lion. I have also noticed the greatest temptation comes to NEW believers. Satan wants to cause the weak to stumble.
Next if you are currently living with thoughts of sin or are in the sin.....end it today. Tell them you can not do this to God and your WIFE you made a promise to. BE A MAN OF YOUR WORD.
Oh thank God for our wives! Let's love them properly. As Christ loved the Church. Christ was willing to self-sacrifice be nothing and even die for his bride the church.
Take your vows seriously and most importantly do not sin against your dear wives.
How thankful I am for the woman God has prepared for me to spend my life with. The more I am with her the closer we grow together and I am just now beginning to learn what it means for the two to become one. I want to be of one heart and mind where we are both moving together in life as one serving one another. That is the vow!
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