Christian Marriage
Christian Marriage
Christian marriage
describes marriage as shaped by Christian tradition.
Yet, Christian marriage is not necessarily limited to
Christians. Persons who
are not members of the Christian tradition could profess the same
understanding of marriage that we are calling “Christian marriage”
and they may prefer to use the term covenant marriage.
For a marriage to be a Christian marriage (covenant marriage), it
must be:
1 – A marriage founded on a permanent & unconditional commitment
to one’s spouse.
2 – A marriage which is life-giving.
3 – A marriage which is an intimate community of life and
love.
4 – A marriage which includes God (or Higher Power) as a “3rd
party” to the relationship.
To put it another way, a couple who wants to establish and live
Christian marriage (covenant marriage) will affirm each of the
following options:
1 - The option to choose a marriage of
permanent and unconditional
commitment (rather than a relationship in which
divorce is always an option.)
2 - The option to choose to be
open to the gift of children
and to be committed to being a
responsible parent toward
each child conceived.
3 - The option to include God
as a real and effective "third party.”
The surest sign of this is that the couple learns to pray
together.
4 - The option to commit to
loving one's partner to the degree and intensity that
one loves God, and to
commit to loving God to the degree and intensity that one loves
one's partner.
5 - The option to commit to ongoing efforts to develop a
truly intimate relationship
(physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually) and develop
effective problem solving
skills, because these are essential tools for building a
non-ending love relationship.
6 - The option to promise to seek professional marital counseling if
they need more help than they can provide for each other.