Day Fifteen 40 Days of Focus: Relationships

Is marriage a contract or a covenant? Most people are not even sure what the difference is. A contract is an agreement between two parties that is designed to keep dishonest people honest. These are very common in our culture. You must sign a contract when you get a cell phone, buy a house or car, sign-up for internet service, attend the gym and yes, get married. The State requires you get a marriage license before you can be legally married. This contract is the basis of the agreement that the State will invoke if you decide to get a divorce. It describes what you agreed to do and helps define what negative actions will be taken against you for failing to live up to your part of the contract. If you break your cell phone contract you will have to pay a hefty fine. If you break your mortgage contract, you will loose your house and all the money you put into it. The contract says, I don't think you will do the right thing unless there is fear of consequences. Let's agree on the consequences and then sign on the dotted line so I can trust you won't bail on our agreement. Can you imagine if people got cell phones and cars and houses just on a handshake? What if banks agreed to loan money just on a person's promise to repay it? Contracts are necessary to keep dishonest people honest. Covenants are quite different. Like contracts, they are an agreement between two parties. But unlike the contract, they are based on the trustworthiness of both parties and are only as good as the character of the parties they represent. If your best friend needed to borrow your car, would you make them sign a contract first? Most of us would quickly hand over the keys to our best friend because we trust them. That's what covenants are based on. When God designed marriage He had a covenant agreement in mind. Christian marriage is covenant marriage. The person you marry should be a person of good character. Your marriage covenant is only as strong as the character of husband and the wife before their God.