"Marriage- Faith & Forgiveness"

1. Marriage is a journey of Faith.
2. To err is human, but to forgive is divine

I recently attended my friend's (kea) wedding and during the service, the pastor quoted "Marriage is a journey of faith"- This touched me because it made me realise that even though people get married mostly because they love each other, none of them know what they will face along the journey. Neither do they know the outcome. All they dwell on is the "love" they have for each other in that moment as well as "hope" that all things will work for good in their marriage. Hence indirectly they are exercising Faith- (A substance of things "hoped" for and the evidence of things unseen"....Hebrews 11: 1) in their journey together as a couple.

The second lesson I learnt was "To err is human but to forgive is divine".
I had heard this quote many times yet did not really understand it until the preacher set an example in the case of married couples who because of the amount of time they spend together are bound to offend each other. In certain cases, the offence would be so much (Jesus says, blessed is he who shall not be offended in me... Matthew 11:6) so that, the foundations of the marriage could be shaken and if this happens, a marriage that has been built on a strong foundation with its entirety entrenched in Christ would find that the only thing they can do is to go back to the founder and ask for strength and this would be the definition of the divinity in forgiveness.
You see, when we are offended, we don't forgive because we are perfect and it's so easy rather we forgive because, we were once sinners deemed to perish except for the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus

Therefore as humans we are bound to err, but when we offend others, their ability to forgive us is only due to the fact that, they themselves have been forgiven hence they are able to do the same to others i.e. divine forgiveness. God alone can help us to forgive. We cannot give what we do not have. We can only forgive because we have received forgiveness from God. Hence he has shown us an example and is only asking that we do the same with others.

May God help us all to practice forgiveness in our relationships and allow us to abide in faith and love in our marriages in Jesus name Amen.