The exchange of vows is the most important part of a wedding. Take away the rings, and you still have a marriage. Take away the flowers, candles, decorations, and music, and you still have a marriage. Take away the groomsmen, the bridesmaids, the flower girls, and the ring bearer, and you still have a marriage.

But if you take away the vows, you do not have a marriage at all. Whether the couple uses the traditional vows from The Book of Common Prayer or vows that they have written themselves for the occasion, the exchange of vows is what binds a marriage in the sight of God.

Have you ever considered that our promises in a marriage are built upon the promises that Christ has already made to us? 

The Promise of His Everlasting Love

In Jeremiah 31:3, Jehovah gives a promise to His people: “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” The love that binds a bride and a groom is rooted in the love of our Lord for us. How can a man love his wife without first knowing the love of God? It is Christ’s love, Christ’s promise, and Christ’s everlasting nature that enables a man and a woman to pledge to each other their love forever. Man’s love, by nature, is fleeting and temporal. But God’s love is everlasting. This love—God’s love—is the foundation of a Christian marriage.

The Promise of His Abiding Presence

The well-known words of traditional wedding vows are “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” These words are built upon Christ’s promise to never abandon His Bride, no matter the circumstances. According to Hebrews 13:5, the words of our Lord assure us: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” 

The Promise of His Care Until Death

The final portion of the traditional vows is a solemn reminder that death is coming: “till death do us part.” A youthful bride in the glitter and glory of her wedding day is still solemnly headed eventually for the tomb. A bridegroom in the strength of early manhood already has a sentence of death because of the curse of sin. But in the face of eventual death, a couple vows to one another their faithfulness until death. This vow is built upon the foundation of God’s promise. He will never die. As a faithful spouse, He will guide, love, support, and stand beside us all the way to the grave. “For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death” (Psalm 48:14).

May God help every couple to meditate often upon their vows and realize that all Biblical human vows are based upon God’s Own eternal promises.