Command 8 : Keep Your Word | Day 54

Keep Your Word to Your Wife!

These e-mails are designed to teach you how to have daily success. In order for us to achieve that objective, we must deal with all the aspects of success, even ones that are difficult and sensitive, such as the vows that a man makes to his wife. As we will see in a later e-mail, marriage is not just a promise to a woman; it is a blood covenant. The vow is made not only to the woman, but also to God, in the presence of many witnesses. To break such a vow is to bring serious damage to the potential for success. In fact, there are serious warnings in Scripture about not keeping the marriage vow.

At the altar a man does not say "till divorce do us part" but "till death do us part."

Thirty-five years earlier he had married his first wife, but their marriage had lasted only one year before it ended in divorce. All of these years he had been carrying a weight of guilt, not only for breaking his marriage vows, but for appearing to be someone that he was not.

I was then able to turn to Malachi 2:13-15 and explain to him why God was not responding to his cries for help. "This have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. ... Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth." When this man asked God to forgive him for breaking his vows, God demonstrated His mercy and grace, with significant blessing. God also freed this businessman from guilt.

After his moral failure with Bathsheba, the major theme of David's Psalms was the marvelous mercy of a forgiving God.

One of a man's greatest resources for success is a loving wife who honors and respects him. Honor is not something that can be demanded; it must be earned. The best way to earn it is to remember your promises and make sure they are fulfilled. If you have lost your "promise list," don't worry! Your wife has it in her mind. Just ask her to remind you of the promises you have made and not yet fulfilled. Do it today!