Some good advice about marriage

I visited my son, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren about three weeks ago. My daughter-in-law is deeply religious and we often discuss spiritual things. Among others, we talked about the Bible study course she was giving on the book of Daniel. At my request she loaned me her richly annotated “Life Application Study Bible” so I could read the book of Daniel. The evening before I returned home, she gave me her bible. Reading it has become part of my morning quiet time.

Two of my young women staff members told me this week that they have become engaged and proudly showed off diamond engagement rings. Whenever I hear this news – or attend a wedding – it recreates personal memories of the joy, love and commitment that most of us experienced during courtship, engagement and on our wedding day. But, as I have written before, I am also saddened when I see so many older couples whose marriage vows have become a bondage that links them, unwillingly, in lives of quiet – or not so quiet − barely suppressed anger and resentment.

In a commentary on the relationship between Adam and Eve, the Life Application Study Bible provided a section entitled “what the Bible says about marriage” that I found useful.

• Marriage is God’s idea
• Commitment is essential to a successful marriage
• Romance is important
• Marriage holds times of great joy
• Marriage creates the best environment for raising children
• Unfaithfulness breaks the bond of trust, the foundation of all relationships
• Marriage is permanent
• Ideally, only death should dissolve marriage
• Marriage is based on the principled practice of love, not on feelings
• Marriage is good and honorable