What Makes a Marriage Strong?

I have just come home from a wedding. The daughter of a prominent family in our town was getting married. Her parents attend our church and we've come to know both the bride and groom, so we went to the wedding to show our support of this family. Both the bride and groom are strong in their Christian faith and they were sure to make Christ the center of their wedding. There was a large, flower-covered cross in the background. The couple also assembled a unity cross as part of the ceremony. In their personally written vows, they each spoke of God's leadership in bringing them together and promised to serve Him together, until "death do we part".

I began to wonder just how many couples would be getting married in the next couple of months. This is the beginning of "wedding season", you know. Of all the couples getting married, I wonder what fraction of them have consulted with God about their potential spouse. Could very many actually say, "God brought us together and we want to serve Him together for the rest of our lives"?
I dare say I doubt there would be many, even among people who claim to be Christian!

God created a wife for Adam "and brought her to the man." He put them together. She was formed to be his helper in life. If God created a wife just for Adam, I believe He continues to bring couples together when they seek to live for Him.

Will life be easy because it's a "match made in heaven"? NO! We are human. We sin. We make mistakes. We fight. We are selfish. We want our own way! This is why Jesus taught us about forgiveness. We must not only love, but we must also forgive. Strangely, the cycle of loving and forgiving and loving some more, makes a marriage stronger. Each time we fail and ask forgiveness, we must become vulnerable to one another. This forms a stonger bond than was originally there. Don't ask me how it's possible. I don't know! I only know it's true because I have experienced it!

I hope and pray that the young couple who took their vows tonight will have a long and happy marriage and that they will still be serving Jesus together 35 years from now!