Marriage is a big deal; take it seriously

By DR. DAVID L. CHANCEY
Pastor

A friend was admiring Mrs. Smith's new diamond ring. "What a beautiful diamond!" she said.

Mrs. Smith smiled and said, "Thank you. It's a family heirloom, but it comes with a curse."

The friend said, "Oh, really? What's the curse?"

Mrs. Smith said, "Mr. Smith!"

Then there's the man who was about to celebrate his 3oth wedding anniversary. A friend asked, "What are you going to do for the big occasion?"

The man replied, "I think I'll take my wife to Australia."

His friend said, "Wow, that's wonderful to take your wife on a nice trip like that, but how will you top that one for your 40th wedding anniversary?"

The man said, "I'll guess I'll go back and get her."

Making marriage work is a real challenge, isn't it? Usually, it's both a blessing and a curse. There is no perfect marriage, because marriages are made up of imperfect people. However, it helps if both the husband and the wife have a healthy view of marriage.

Some people don't take marriage seriously. I'll never forget one girl I went to college with. Somehow the subject of marriage came up in our group, and she said, "I'm going to marry the first man who asks me." She was from a small east Georgia town and may have thought she didn't have many prospects, but her statement revealed a recipe for trouble. I wondered, "Why would you marry just anyone?"

Dezerrie Anne Cortex did. In fact, she had quite a collection. This New York City 40-year-old was arrested Wednesday for her part in an immigration scam. Seems she has been married not once, not thrice, but 26 times! She was caught when she applied for her 27th marriage license. She was not a blushing bride, but a career bride who offered to marry illegal immigrants for a fee, usually about $1,000. Sometimes she would go through with the marriage ceremony, and sometimes not.

According to the New York Times, a marriage would entitle her "husbands" to green cards and other benefits, including Social Security and unemployment insurance. Four other women were charged, and at least a dozen names appear to have been married a suspicious number of times. Most of these who actually married after receiving the licenses never bothered to file for divorce before applying for new licenses.

The women charged Wednesday had applied for licenses to marry a total of 43 men! They give a new dimension to the term "previously married." And they face perjury charges and offering false documents to officials charges. Their itch to hitch and hitch and hitch could bring up to four years in prison.

They obviously have a low view of God's institution of marriage. Marriage was God's idea, and God created marriage for several reasons. In the book "Preparing for Marriage," David Boehi, Brent Nelson, Jeff Schulte and Lloyd Shadrach list three.

First, in marriage, husbands and wives mutually complete one another. "Then the Lord said, it is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him (Gen. 2:18). God said everything in his creation was good until he saw Adam's aloneness. He saw Adam as incomplete, so he gave Adam a wife who would complement and walk with him.

Second, in marriage we have the opportunity to multiply a Godly legacy. "And God said, 'be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth'" (Genesis 1:28). Every couple who is able should at some point have children who can pass on God's Word to the next generation. They create a nurturing home that teaches children about God.

Third, in marriage we mirror God's image. "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gen. 1:27). When a husband and wife have God at the center of their marriage, and are striving to please and honor Him in their marriage, they will reflect His image. Maybe not everyday in the ups and downs of relating, but overall they will reflect God.

The bottom line is this: marriage is more than a cultural institution, an arrangement for companionship, a business proposition, or a convenience. What is on the line here is God's name, because God created the institution of marriage.

(Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor, McDonough Road Baptist Church, 352 McDonough Road, Fayetteville. The church family invites you to join them this Sunday for Bible study at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 10:55 a.m.)