When we were kids, we'd dream of who we were going to marry. We imagined what our husbands would be like and how many children we'd have or what house we would live in. We fantasized about our weddings with our friends and wondered what our new last names might be. The one thing we didn't even think about seems to be the only thing marriage is becoming -- a piece of paper.

Marriage is not just a piece of paper. All the piece of paper does is establish legal matters, like finances -- things that are government related. That's not marriage. Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman under God.

Marriage is the promise you make to your spouse that you will support him/her through whatever triumph hits you. A piece of paper can't make your promise true. A piece of paper can't make you love someone unconditionally. A piece of paper can't make you forgive. A piece of paper can't make you be selfless. Marriage is the happiness you share with the person that you promise to cherish for life, through the dry seasons, through the fights, and through the joys .

I blame a huge portion of divorces on the increasingly popular notion that marriage is only a certificate issued by the state government. If you see marriage as a piece of paper then that's all it will ever be. That's all you'll ever treat it as. It shouldn't be something that you just think, "Oh whatever. I can just do whatever I want and file for divorce if I decide I don't like this person anymore."

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24 ESV)

The state didn't establish marriage. The government does not have that authority. God established marriage in the very beginning of time. It's purely under His discretion. That's why marriage exists. That's where marriage came from.

Not only is the belief that marriage being only a piece of paper wrong, but it's also very selfish. Marriage should be looked at as your commitment to the other person and to God. Your spouse should be wrapped around your finger. The idea of living without that person should make you feel uneasy.

It's important to know that when you make the promise of marriage, it's for life and that it's built off of the relationship you have with God and with the other person. It isn't about yourself or the certificate your state makes you sign.