What is Commitment?
By Tara Wentworth
When we hear the term “relationship” today, what comes to your mind? Certainly there are many different types of relationships or connections that people can have with other people. We all have different levels of relationships that have different kinds of involvement, commitment and even emotions that come with them. We have business relationships, social relationships, family relationships, just to name a few. Our society has certain expectations that come along with each of these different relationships and as time passes, even those expectations can and have changed.
Within our family, our relationships differ with our parents, our siblings, our distant relatives, our children and our spouse. The “closer” the relationship, the more our time, emotions and energies are involved.
There was a time when people built relationships based upon integrity, character and commitment. A man’s “word” was his bond. In other cultures, particularly what we would call “primitive”, there is a much clearer understanding of commitment or covenant. We use the strong word “covenant” as a legal term but it really has far less meaning in our day to day relationship with those we are in relationship with. In primitive cultures, to “cut covenant” meant that what is mine is yours. It meant that if you were in any kind of difficulty, your covenant partner, along with all of his resources, would be there for you, in whatever way you needed them to be including going to war with you, putting their own lives at risk. To break covenant meant certain death to the one who broke the covenant because it was such a revered commitment. Our God “cut covenant” with us, shedding the blood of His own Son, so that we could enjoy the resources of heaven. We can be part of His family with all the resources that belong to Him at our disposal.
Marriages today are under severe attack on many different fronts, from what the definition of marriage is to what it really means to be married. Pre-nuptial agreements, no-fault divorce, unfaithfulness, internet pornography add to the mix and certainly don’t encourage “commitment” or “covenant”.
Check out the movie FIREPROOF and the web site Fireproof.com for resources on restoring a healthy marriage. There is something you can do to make your marriage fulfilling and healthy!
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| TFAM article - Having an Intentional Marriage | 35.6 KB | File | 3/12/2009 12:57:34 PM |
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