We recently went to a wedding where the bride and groom each took a 
container of sand and together poured their individual containers of sand into one urn. The grains of sand were intermingled to where they could never be separated and poured again into the individual containers. This, of course, was meant to represent the oneness God intends for us to have in marriage. We are to be united in love. We are to be committed one to another.
The minister that day also talked about marriage being a covenant. As I sat there I wondered, “Do they really understand what they are committing to?” When I got married, I didn’t. There’s a lot more to that “I Do” than most of us ever imagined.
See a covenant relationship is far more than a legal marital contract. According to Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages, a covenant is initiated for the benefit of the other person. In covenants, people make promises, which are unconditional. Covenant relationships are based on steadfast love. Covenant relationships view commitments as permanent. And covenant relationships make provisions for each other’s weaknesses and failures. Did you know that’s what most of you signed up for?