October 11, 2008

Stevie, Corey, WOW! What a wonderful day. You guys are standing here as a witness to all of us that you have given yourselves to each other for now and for always. All of us here are so happy to be able to share this time with you. In a few minutes, each of you is going to be asked to say “I do!” But before that I want to challenge you to go further than just I do!


As long as there have been relationships, whether between wife and husband, between parent and child or between God and people, there has been the question, what can I do? What should I do? I do! I do! It is always our thought that if we can just DO enough, then everything will be okay! We want a to do list, or an “I do” list! A list that we can check off and know that we have done what we are supposed to do! But I don’t think that is what God asks of us or what a wife and a husband really want from each other. It’s not just "I do!"


We ask God, how many times should I forgive? Up to 7? We want a list. Give me a count. But God says, “No, 7 times 70! God is saying don’t just forgive, but BE forgiving! No count, no to-do list, just BE forgiving! Then we ask God what do you want me to do? What should I do? God answers very simply, love God and love each other. That's it! We say, yeah, yeah I have done all that, what else? Give me a list! I need a to-do list! But God doesn’t have a list, only that we should BE loving. Not just love, but BE loving!


I think we always want to put God in a box. And each other in a box, too. A box that we can control with our own to do list. If we just DO enough everything will work out. But I am convinced we can never DO enough to earn the love that God has given us nor can we DO enough to earn the love that we give to one another. The key is not to Do, but to Be! To BE the person that God wants us to be. To BE the husband or wife that we want to be.


So, as you stand here giving yourselves to each other, I want to challenge you, not to just give but BE giving! Don’t just forgive but BE forgiving! Don’t just love, but BE loving! If you guys could set this to music you might call it DoBeDoBeDo, cause the choice is DO or BE! The easy choice is to just DO while the harder choice is to BE. If you can BE the person that God wants you to be. If you can BE the wife and BE that husband that you want to be, then the I Do part will be easy. I love you both very much!