There was a time in my life when I placed no value on marriage whatsoever. It's funny, I believed that sex was only for the married, but I had a sense for a long time that people do not mean what they say, and so 'one flesh' was impossible in reality...people are just too fallen now. I never wanted to be married, because I didn't want to be divorced...especially with children...I had been part of a broke family and I wasn't going to inflict that type of pain on a child, or allow a wayward spouse to do it.
When I met Shaun, my late husband, he was just too much of a man of character to NOT be trusted. He taught me about family, about 'one flesh', and God used him to change my mind on many things. He really used him to teach me love and affection for the brotherhood. Very neat. I didn't realize that I was so unloving, until I met someone who was willing to lay his life down for me and love with all like Jesus did. His word meant something to me, just like God's Word. It was those very loving lessons that helped me through when God took Shaun...it was a preparation as I would watch my children suffer, and as I would suffer myself.
I think God's Word is discarded sometimes because of this mentality that no one can be trusted, and the spoken word is not real ore tangible. If God's Word means something, then marriage means something. 'One flesh' means something real and tangible. A vow before God is sacred and to be kept. I didn't believe that before, and God opened my eyes, and I have been able to experience it twice with two wonderful brothers in Christ...me, the girl who said 'never'.