Commitment?

Omg! Kim Kardashian and her new hubby Kris are getting a divorce! Shock. Surprise. Oh, the horror. Can you sense my sarcasm yet?

It's been all over the news this week. Another celebrity couple call it quits after only 72 days of marriage. Normally people say, 'oh that's sad'. But this time I've just seen outrage... and rightly so. It's ridiculous that they were able to take something that is meant to be a holy covenant and throw it away like leftovers that have finally gone off.

The week before I got a letter from my pen pal back in Ohio, a little girl I had the opportunity to pray for all last year. Her parents just got divorced and she said to me in her letter, 'I'm glad we have something in common. But, I mean, what is it like? Is it weird or what?' My heart broke for her. I felt all the swell of emotions from when my parents went through it and I just wanted to wrap her in my arms.

Because even the most well intentioned divorce tears a child apart. Even if it truly is the best thing for the parents, it still destroys the family and there is nothing you can do to fix that. You can put a band-aid on it, you can learn to live with it, but everyone will always carry that scar with them. And for the kids, it will always effect the relationships they have, the way they deal with stress, the way they view parenting as adults... it's life changing.

Anyway, it made me think, what the heck is wrong with us? Half of marriages in the US end in divorce, and no, I'm not exaggerating.

Now, I know there are some situations that warrant divorce. Cheating, abuse, etc., but those are a small percentage of the 50%. The real issue is that people don't know what it means to be committed to one another. They think a wedding is a wonderful and grand party and forget that it signifies the beginning of a lifelong relationship.

When you say those vows and sign those papers you are saying that you will stick by that person no matter what. You are saying that your life now belongs to them and they are saying that their life now belongs to you. You are telling the world that the two of you are one.

You should stick by them when money troubles come. You should remain faithful, even if you are separated for a long time (like when work calls one spouse away form the home for a time). You should stick together even when you find out something that the other person initially hid from you, like their credit card debt. And you should stick together, even when you seem to fight about everything. All that means is that you need help, not that you should give up.

We should love no matter what. We should give second chances. We should forgive. We should show grace. After all, that's what Christ did for us. And that's what our marriage is supposed to resemble.

So what's our problem with commitment? Our problem is that so many of us don't know what it is supposed to look like.  Well, I'll tell you. It's supposed to look like Christ. The better you and yours truly know Him, the better your marriage will be.

It's not easy. It's not convenient. It's not self-serving. Thank God for that.