In the world today contracts or commitments are made to be broken. It's very hard for us to understand what a covenant agreement really means. In America we are accustomed to a contract where liability is limited. We provide loopholes in every agreement we make. Loopholes in any contract make it easy to dissolve. It doesn't matter if we are buying a new car, a house, or marrying the person of our dreams. If we can't pay our bills there is bankruptcy. If a marriage does not work, a divorce can be obtained by going to a business supply store and buying a kit. Within sixty days, we are free to marry again. It is just that easy!! However, in biblical times a covenant was a binding commitment that lasted until death.

Today many have a lack of knowledge and interest in building a lasting relationship with our spouse and fulfilling our covenant agreement with them.

A successful, covenant binding marriage means death to self. Each partner must agree to lay down their life for the other. We must desire to place the needs of our mate ahead of our own. Their needs must become a priority in our lives. What husbands and wives share between them must become an all important factor in their lives. One life must be shared between two people.

Malachi 2:14 (NIV) states, "...It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth." Proverbs 2:17 (NIV) states, "...who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God." These scriptures tell us that marriage is recognized by the Word of God as a covenant relationship not a contract. God witnesses the marriage. If He is only a witness and does not abide in the hearts of the persons making the commitment, it is only a man-man covenant.