Kim Kardashian has filed for divorce from her NBA star husband, Kris Humphries, only 72 days after their wedding. Much has been made about what she should now do with her 20 carat wedding ring. That’s a staggering nearly 1 carat for every 4 days married. Needless to stay, for such a stunning ring, there was not much substance behind the relationship. The quickly planned wedding and quickly filed divorce papers raise a few questions. Was it a just a publicity stunt? Was it just for money? Well, they’ve certainly received millions of dollars of free publicity from their wedding and marriage. And it’s been reported that Kardashian earned about $18 million from the wedding and marriage.
The sad part of all of this is Kardashian and Humphries’ complete lack of understanding of what marriage is all about. The diamond wedding ring is supposed to symbolize forever. That’s what marriage is. Forever, till death do you part. Kim and Kris seem to think marriage is just a contract—a contract that can be broken at any time and for any reason whatsoever.
But marriage is not a contract, it’s a covenant. And that’s what wedding rings symbolize –the unending commitment to keep the covenant. To help Kardashian and Humphries understand the nature of the marriage covenant, they may want to read this quick contrast between a covenant and a contract.
Covenant |
Contract |
| Based on unconditional love between God, a husband, and a wife | Based on conditional consideration between two people |
| Sacrificial Action (i.e. I’ll do it no matter what you do) | Reciprocal Transaction (e.g. If you do this, then & only then I will do that) |
| Based on Mutual Commitment | Based on Mutual Distrust |
| Seeks to Give | Seeks to Get |
| For Life | For Now |
In a nutshell, a contract is all about what you get. A covenant is all about what you give. The meaning of marriage is covenantal. Should Kim give the ring back? If she has no intention of keeping the covenant, then yes.
