In our society today, various marriage vows exists, and one example of traditional Christian marriage vows read thus: I, _____, take you, _____, to be my wife/husband, and I do promise and covenant, before God and these witnesses, to be your loving and faithful husband/wife in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live.
Even though some couples made marriage vows to each other as the one above, yet marriage failure and divorce cases are on the increase. One of the reasons is that some couples are not faithful to keep to the marriage vows which they made to each other.
The majority of the couples are so short-sighted and myopic, that some abandon their spouses calling the marriage, a quit as they are not ready or willing to keep their marriage vows as a result of some seemly temporary setbacks or hardships.
Yes, you promised to love and cherish your spouse, but assuming that something unexpected happened that changed the status of your spouse today, will you still love him or her, being ready and faithful to keep to your marriage vow?
This question is crucial because there are men and women who abandon their spouses at the slightest setback or hardship as they are not ready to keep to their marriage vows which they made to each other, to be a loving and faithful husband/wife in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live.
For instance, there was a man I know, the man was an engineer with one of the reputable oil companies in Nigeria when he got married to one lady. Their marriage barely lasted for three years when the said man suddenly lost his job. Before the man lost his job, they were living so happily.
It happened, after one year of the man losing his job, there was no income coming as to sustain the maintenance of two cars, so the man sold the car of his wife so that they will have enough money to feed themselves while he searched and secure another job.
However, the man was unable to secure another job before the end of the second year. As a result, the wife, to the least expectation and imagination of everyone, decided to abandon the man, saying that she was not ready to suffer with the man.
According to the man, he said that he really suffered hunger when he entered the third year of being unemployed. He later sold the only remaining car and as well as most of his assets, just to feed, and he said that he wept the day he sold the air conditioner in his house.
The man was able to eat quality food some days’ courtesy of one lady living with her parents in the next flat, unknown to the man, she convinced her parents of the need to assist the man with foodstuff.
Any day the lady was at home, especially on holidays, she will buy ingredients with which she cooks soup and stew and goes and keep them in the man’s freezer, the man had given the mother of the lady the spare key of his flat.
Even though the man never met the lady doing so, neither had he any relationship with the lady. However, he got convinced that the lady was responsible for such cooking as it happened only when the lady was on holiday, or she came visiting from the university where she schooled.
Equally, every Sunday, that family will take rice to the man in food flax. It happened, one January of the third year, he got an email inviting him for an intensive course, organized by the international head office of the former company he had worked with.
He decided to attend the course, and it was in the cause of the intensive course that he came to confirm that it was his name that was still at the international head office. Meaning that their international head office was not aware that he was laid off.
That was to say that it was the Managing Director of the company in Nigeria that sacked him and replaced him with his cousin without the knowledge of the international head office of the company.
To cut the story short, the company absorbed him back and paid him the full salary for the three years he was illegally laid off. Not only that, he was transferred to the South Africa branch after paying him the three year’s arrears of salaries, and the payment was made in dollars.
After converting the salary to the Nigerian currency, it almost amounted to 2 billion Nigeria currency. That was how the financial fortune of that man got changed and was restored again.
After the payment, the man transferred about two million Naira to the account of that family that was helping him with food. He equally decided to marry that lady as he paid the dowry of the lady signifying that he will marry her after her graduation the next year as the lady was in the second year of her four-year course.
Their wedding ceremony took place in Nigeria, and he flew with his wife to South Africa immediately after their marriage, the two are living happily ever since they got married.
The gist of the story was that this ex-wife still remained unmarried and was said to have fainted the day she saw the wedding card of her ex-husband and his new status. She claimed that it was her friend who persuaded her to abandon her ex-husband.
As a lady, what is your intake and what lessons can you learn about the need to be faithful to keep our marriage vows?. Don’t be short-sighted or myopic. The status of the man you despised today can be glorious tomorrow. Shalom!
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