LAST week’s article was about the power of the words that you speak in your vows because you have to mean what you say and only say what you mean to your future spouse.

In today’s article we will look at the scripture that is commonly used by the bride and groom on their wedding invitation card. Every wedding invitation card has a scripture written on it mainly at the end.

The reason for the scripture is to show that marriage has always been God’s idea and plan since creation. Marriage is good, honourable, is permanent and holds times of great joy. It is for this reason that man has adapted it.

There are many scriptures in the Bible that can be used on invitation cards. There are two commonly used scriptures that I want to talk about in detail.

The first one is found in Genesis 2:24 and then the same scripture recorded again in Mark 10:6-9. God gave marriage as a gift to Adam and Eve and they were created perfect for each other. Marriage was not just for convenience, nor was it brought about by any culture. It was instituted by God and has three basic aspects: The first one is that man has to leave his parents and in a public act and promises himself to his wife. The leaving of parents is mental and means that you are no longer under your parents’ cover; you now have responsibility to take care of each other’s welfare.

The second one is that man and woman are joined together, you are mended together, you are cleaved to stick together and by loving the mate above anybody else; and the third aspect is that the two are united into one; in the intimacy and commitment to each other which means being faithful to one another.

Commitment is essential to a successful marriage because it is an obligation and a promise. A happy marriage is a faithful marriage. To have a strong marriage, all the three aspects have to be included.

In olden times, women were often treated as a property and marriage and divorce were regarded as transactions similar to buying and selling of land.

But Jesus condemned this attitude, clarifying God’s original intention which is that marriage brings oneness. Jesus held up God’s ideal for marriage and told His followers to live by that ideal.

The union of husband and wife merges two persons in such a way that little can affect one without also affecting the other. Oneness in marriage does not mean losing your personality in the personality of the other. Instead, it means caring for your spouse as you care for yourself, learning to anticipate their needs, helping the other person become all he or she can be.

The creation story tells of God’s plan that husband and wife should be one as recorded in Genesis 2:24. Apostle Paul also wrote about this in Ephesians 5:31 and Jesus referred to this plan in Matthew 19:4-6. When He (Jesus) was responding to the Pharisees, “Haven’t you read …… For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh, so they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.

When two items are glued together with super glue, separation becomes a painful, sticky mess and paper tears and fabric frays if you try to divide the two pieces that have melded into one.

If you try to separate them, the original items are never the same because each inevitably retains fragments of the other.

Just think about two pieces of paper that were glued together. After they’ve been torn apart, each piece is ragged and becomes weak.

That’s why superglue comes with a label advising the consumer to use extreme caution when handling it.

We might think of marriage as something like God’s superglue because it weaves two lives intricately put together into one.

After this blessed blending is attempted at separation, the separation causes permanent damage, hearts break, commitments crumble and families split.

God’s intertwining of husband and wife extends to children, friends and families related to the union. God’s word also provides a strong warning: “What God has joined together, let man not separate only through God’s strength and the determination by the couples can keep the bond of a marriage strong and remain super-glued together.

“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Always stick together even when the world tries to pull you down.

Marriage is a commitment of a man and woman to wed their lives together lovingly in a union that is total: Spiritual, mental and physical. God created marriage, encourages it and commands unity in it as a lifelong relationship. He wants marriage to be held in honour.

God has designed it for the happiness of the human race, as a channel for love to be expressed in an intimate manner. Remember it was the first institution that God gave man.

It matters the foundation upon which your marriage is built, that is why when you build your marriage on a sure foundation, you can stake your marriage life on it. The Bible says “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

He is the true and firm foundation so make Him the foundation of your marriage today by employing the principles of His word in your marriage life.

That way, when contrary winds blow against you, you will remain standing because you are founded upon the Rock, which is Christ Jesus!

In the face of adversity you will be unshakable because on Christ, the Solid Rock, you stand.

Remember, the foundation is what makes the difference. Jesus gave an illustration of houses that were being built in Luke 6:47-49:

“Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, l will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: For it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”

Both the builders were confronted by the same flood then the one without foundation come to ruin. No wonder the songwriter wrote, “On Christ the solid rock l stand; All other ground is sinking sand! All other ground is sinking sand…”

Let Christ, the Solid Rock be the foundation and anchor of your marriage! Be a doer of His word, for that is how you can build your marriage on the solid rock. That’s what will keep you standing firm.

Be as strong as a mountain, no matter how heavy the wind blows against the mountain, it will never bend in the direction that the wind is blowing.

Remain unshakeable even when the storms blow against you, for you have been securely planted on the true foundation. Your marriage has, is and will always be what God has joined together. Live to enjoy your marriage.

(The author is a wedding planner consultant and proprietor of Bernatta Bridal services Ndola.

Cell: 0966665468; Email: sunittasyabeene@yahoo.com)