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The Faithfulness of Commitment

In my previous article, Great Is Your Faithfulness, I discussed Father God’s ongoing presence as an aspect of his faithfulness. Today, I want to share my perspective of his faithfulness as the bridegroom.

What Are You Committed To?

Even though I think we are a low commitment society, everyone makes commitments of some kind. We commit to doctor appointments, soccer practices, social organizations. We are committed to ideals and values. We are committed to family, TV shows, clothes brands and sometimes to our “significant other” who may or may not be our spouse.

One of the indications that we are a low commitment people is that we live in a culture where marriage has become optional and/or disposable. I’m so aware of this, I hesitated to use this illustration to describe the faithfulness of God. However, Jesus identified himself as “the bridegroom” so I want to examine what that means when it comes to his faithfulness.

What Constitutes a Long Commitment to You?

In historical context, Jewish divorce was easily attainable in the first century (at least for the men). Dependent on their husbands, not many women had the means to initiate divorce. The tendency to abandon their wives was high enough to prompt Moses to establish a system of divorce to ensure that women were somewhat provided for because the hearts of the men of that culture “were hard.” Otherwise, women were “set aside” (put out) with no provision (no community property baby). When Jesus defined God’s intent for marriage in Mark 10, he made it clear that it was meant to be an eternal commitment. (Hence the whole “till death us do part” section in traditional wedding vows.)

‘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.”

Mark 10:7-9 (NIV)

In light of his description, we can see as our bridegroom, Jesus, was making an eternal commitment not a conditional one. He had become “one flesh” with humanity. But that’s not the full extent of his faithfulness.

How Much Are You Willing To Pay For A Pair Of Jeans?

For years, my mom would only wear Levi brand jeans. She would get kind of emotionally attached to inanimate stuff and show fierce loyalty to it even if it cost more. I confess, I too have my commitments to certain brands – mainly Tide and Clorox. (Can you say generational wash cycle?) As her body changed with age, my mom’s commitment to Levi’s waned and Gloria Vanderbilt jeans became her passion until her passing. I, for one, was grateful for the change. GVs are a significantly less expensive. What are you willing to pay more for?

Jesus paid quite a high price because of his commitment to us:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:6-8 (NIV)

That’s right! Jesus was willing to die because of his commitment to us! NOW THAT IS FAITHFUL.

Do You Ever RSVP?

I’m serious. Not many people respond to invitations anymore. At least not right away. We all (including me) hesitate to commit for fear something better – I mean something more urgent – may come up. Commitment costs something. It costs freedom to do what we may want to do at the last minute. It costs time. Sometimes it costs money. Why do we all clap when someone announces their 65th wedding anniversary? Because we recognize that kind of commitment doesn’t come easily.

I think Bert and I had an amazing marriage. However, there were times in our marriage that things got shaky. There were times when things got boring. There were times when things got angry. In the middle of those times, it seemed as if it would be easy to walk out. To escape. But thank God, we chose commitment over easy. And of course, easy wouldn’t have really been easy. I’ve always said “love is a choice” and marriage is certainly the testing ground for that. His commitment to me and mine to him are what got us through the ugly of cancer. Commitment gets you through the days of overweight, stretch marks, bad breath and saggy body parts. (Happily, since I’m still smokin’ hot, Bert never had to deal with any of that but sometimes it happens to other people. Can you say trophy wife? Heh heh.)

When Jesus called himself our bridegroom, he was declaring his faithfulness to be committed to us. A commitment that would not diminish with time. A commitment that cost him. A commitment that says, “I will not set you aside as dissatisfactory or insufficient. I will not abandon you in pursuit of something better. I will not abuse you anymore than I’d abuse myself. I am for you – always. I am the faithful husband.”

What Do You Think?

What’s been your experience with faithfulness and marriage? Have you ever considered yourself as the bride of Christ? What does that mean to you? I’d love for you to tell me your thoughts.

Prayer Matters

I’m praying for marriage to be celebrated in our culture. I’m praying for husbands and wives to choose commitment to each other even in the times “they’ve grown apart.” I’m praying for a revelation of the value of commitment to permeate our culture and for children to be raised by parents that are modeling what commitment looks like.

Thanks for reading my article. What are you praying for today? Leave a comment so I can partner with you in prayer or just let me know what you think of this article.

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