Dr. J of the Ruth Institute always says marriage is “one man, one woman, for life.” It’s the “for life” part that Matthew Warner is talking about at Fallible Blogma:

In marriage, there may only be a 1% difference between a 99% commitment and a 98% commitment. But there is a 100% difference between 99% and 100%. And not only a difference in number, but in kind. It’s an entirely different kind of relationship. That’s one of the things that makes marriage special.

It’s not just a partnership that we want to last “til death do us part”, but let’s just hope it lasts as long as possible. If you pull back in the slightest in your commitment, you change the entire nature of the relationship. That’s not a marriage. A real marriage is a covenant. A commitment that goes beyond any promise to “feel” a certain way about somebody for any length of time. It’s a life-long bond we are bound to no matter what. Continue reading