You have heard it said, that men must find every fulfillment in God alone, but this is misleading. For it was the Trinity in fullness, God in all three persons that said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” And this was only the beginning. God crafted a partner for me, he crafted you. Not to fill his place, and not to be my foundation. No, he crafted you to be a glimpse of him, his love, his glory, his holiness, and the fullness of his name. Oh, and what and beautiful glimpse it is.
Sarah, you are a shining light of beauty. You are the smile that I long to come home to when the days are broken and weary. You are the love I have dreamt of for so many years. From you, flows the love of God that comes from the perfect harmony of the trinity. You are a gift graced upon me by an almighty God who says, day in and day out, “I love you! Because of the cross, you are worthy of love.” You are an image of forgiveness for the harm I have caused others and myself. You are the grace that returns violence with mercy and returns guilt with honor. You are the heart within me that shouts to stand up and no longer be defeated. You reveal new confidence in me that love is always without condition. With you, I always know that the risk is worth the gain. You are the laughter that fills the somber moments, and the care that fills the heartache. You are the breaking of the waves up on the jagged rocks of my mind, each day softening their lines.
Sarah, my love, I could be alone. I could do life without you. But in the words of the mightiest of mightiest, “it would not be good.” All things I did would forever miss one part. They would forever lack a second side of the image of our mighty King. All things I ever did, would be just a little less complete. They would bring him glory and majesty, but they would forever be just a little less.
But you, my beloved bride, the woman, clothed in white and counted perfect unto God… you are a fragment of the inexhaustible love that flows between the God head, showing humanity that they have a pursuer who is unrelenting and a savior who will stop and nothing to rescue them. You are a shining glimmer of the love of God!
Today, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and bearing the name of Jesus Christ as a son and fellow heir, I promise that my heart will be dedicated to the pursuit of loving you as our Savior loves His bride. I commit, for the remainder of my life to wash you in the word of God that you may always be set apart, strengthened, and encouraged in your relationship with your heavenly Father. I promise that I will lead you in spirit and in truth and that my life, my will, and my actions will be submitted to God. I will dedicate my life to the unity of us, by always pursuing unity with our God. I will pursue holiness, that I may lead you in it. I will fight for your purity, holiness, your name and I will never cease praying for you. I will never cease pursuing you.
For, my Beloved, I will love you always. And even though it is but a pale shadow of the love of the Immortal God, I will always love you with all I can. By the power of the Holy Spirit, covered and made new by the blood of Christ, and before the Father who, orchestrated time and space beyond the eons of history that we would be where we stand today, I promise to you as my wife, to hold you and comfort you, to be your companion and confidant, to forsake all others, to celebrate your successes and support you in your failures, to love you, in sickness, in health, with wealth, in poverty, in every trial, and in every joy… I promise to do all these things for remainder of my life. With confidence given to me by God, I make this promise, again and again, I do.