I have a confession to make.
I have not kept my wedding vows.
I promised to “love, honor, and cherish” my husband until “death do us
part,” and I barely made it through our first week of marriage before I broke
at least one of those promises.
Love—honor—cherish.
Are they meaningless words echoed while gazing into the eyes of your future
spouse while dreaming of the reception and honeymoon? Or are they words that fall from your tongue
while your families and friends witness the exchange of vows—vows which many of
us never contemplate even once after the ceremony is over? What do these three little transitive verbs
mean? I mean, most of us realize what it
is to love; but what about to honor and to cherish?
To honor someone is to respect, to revere, and to treat him
with deference. It is to treat him with
the highest regard in words and actions.
To cherish someone is very similar.
To cherish my husband, I need to treat him in an encouraging manner by
protecting, aiding, and attending. Even
my mind should harbor thoughts which hold him dear and embrace him with
affection.
Proverbs 31:11-12 states, “Her husband has full confidence
in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good not harm, all the days of
her life.” That is honor. You will notice, these verses do not
stipulate to bring him good only if he brings you good first. This is a formidable imperative. Am I the only one who finds it daunting? I don’t want
to honor Woody on those days when I feel as if he is being obnoxious and
overbearing. And what is this with him
always thinking he has to be right? I hate having to swallow my pride in order
to make peace.
So how do we go about keeping our vows? By going to the
source of love. God is love! When I consider how He has given me
excellence when I deserved death, then swallowing my pride in order to bring
about peace becomes simple. And just as
Proverbs reveals, “A gentle answer turns away wrath.” Once I have replenished my supply, loving,
honoring, and cherishing Woody is effortless.
Love, honor, and cherish—if you are struggling to keep these
vows, meditate upon what the words mean.
Identify the areas in your life where you are not putting the words into
action and then go to the source of all love and wisdom, and soon keeping your wedding vows will become effortless.