Kleven’s Wedding Vows
After their wedding, Daniel and Ellen’s wedding vows were the talk of the church. I asked permission to share them here.
“I Daniel Thomas Kleven, take you, Ellen Elise White, to be my wife. I have chosen you above all others and have left my father and mother to cleave unto you, to be joined to you by God, and to become one flesh with you.
Today before God and these witnesses I enter into this solemn covenant of marriage with you. Most importantly I promise to love God first and most and best, with all my heart and soul and mind and far above anyone or anything else in this world. I promise to love you as Christ loves His church, to give my life for you. I promise to love you as myself, as my own body, to nourish and cherish you. I promise to treat you with tenderness and affection, to delight in you and rejoice over you. I promise to honor you and esteem you, and value you above all else, and never to pursue any other earthly thing above you.
I promise to be your head, to lead and guide you, to rule, not with tyranny but with love and by example, not with threatening but with kindness. I promise to lead you by serving you, and to esteem you better than myself. I promise not to be bitter or harsh toward you, but to care for you and encourage you, to teach you the truths of God at home and not let you be ashamed. I promise to provide for you, protect you, and guard you from harm. I promise to sanctify you, and present you holy to God, by pouring The Word of God into your life and by praying for you, entreating God on your behalf. I promise to dwell with you according to knowledge, to seek to understand you, to give you honor as unto the weaker vessel.
I promise to take heed to my spirit, to guard it from anything that would pull me away from you. I promise to be true and faithful to you, and not to deal treacherously with you. I promise to drink waters from my own well, and never out of any others, to be pleased with you, satisfied with you at all times, and ravished and enraptured always with your love. I promise to give you due benevolence, and to give you power over my body. I promise never to send you away or put you away by divorce for any reason.
I promise to build our house with wisdom according to God’s Word, to be the master of our home by being the chief servant, and if God is please to give us children, to raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
I promise to live joyfully with you all the days of this life, in sickness and in health, in gladness and in sorrow, in times of plenty and times of need, until God by death shall part us, or the Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
Ellen, you are my closest friend and companion, my greatest joy and delight on this earth. My heart completely trusts in you. You are a crown to me, and I am honored and blessed beyond words to be taking you as my wife today. I pray that God will be honored and glorified as we seek to keep this covenant by His grace, and with His strength. I love you.
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I, Ellen Elise White, take you, Daniel Thomas Kleven to be my husband. I have chosen you and today I am leaving my father and mother to cleave unto you, to be joined to you by God, and to become one flesh with you.
Today before God and these witnesses I enter into this solemn covenant of marriage with you. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” Besides His gift of salvation, you are the most perfect and precious gift that God has ever given to me. I will love Him, the Giver of all good things, supremely, with all my heart and soul and mind and strength, and then I will love you as myself and far above all else in this world. I praise God continually for you, Daniel.
I promise to be the best helpmeet for you that I can be. I will honour you and reverence you. I will strength and help you, comfort and encourage you. I will strive always to adorn myself with good works and to be modest, discreet and chaste. I promise to be meek and obedient to you, to submit to you (as unto the Lord) and to be subject to you in everything as the church is unto Christ. I promise to do you good all the days of my life. I promise to pray for you and seek your spiritual growth and vitality.
I promise to be faithful and true to you. I will delight in you and rejoice with you. I will render unto you due benevolence and give you power over my body. I commit my whole life and being into your care. I trust you and will look to you to lead me. I will be yours as long as I live on this earth and I will never divorce you or depart from you for any reason.
I will not be brawling or contentious but rather sober and content. I will work willingly and seek to be strong. I will be diligent and wise, and keep the law of kindness in my tongue. I will look well to the ways of our household and not be idle or lazy.
I promise to live joyfully with you all the days of this life, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in gladness, in times of plenty and in times of need. I promise to love and to help you through anything until God by death shall part us, or the Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
Daniel, you are my truest friend and closest companion and I am so excited to spend the rest of my life learning to love you better and grow closer to you. I pray that God will be honoured and glorified as we seek to keep this covenant by His grace and with His strength. I am confident that He will never fail us.
I love you!
Ellen Kleven 8/22/09
For those critical that the couple promised more than they could possibly perform, keep these points in mind: 1) Both of them stated these were goals for their married lives, not unconditional promises. For example, they were not promising to unconditionally love each other every day of their lives, but that their lives have the goal of learning to love each other unconditionally. 2) Both of them spent hours studying the roles of husband and wife in Scripture as they prepared their vows. Most of this is just personalized Bible. It would be beneficial for all of us who are married to read these vows regularly and to set them as our goal as well.