“With This Ring...”

Monday, December 21, 2015

When is the proper time to remove your wedding rings after your spouse dies?  I have been a widow for the past four years, and every time I feel that I should remove my rings, I feel like I am being unfaithful to my husband.  We were married for nineteen years before he died of cancer.

 

Sincerely,
Ring-Bearer

Dear Ring-Bearer,

You are not being unfaithful to your deceased husband by taking off your wedding rings.  Your love and adoration for him is impressive, especially in an era when divorce runs rampant.  If only more people took marriage as seriously as you.  Having said that, though your memories of him live on, you are no longer bound by your marriage contract.  When your husband died, you became free to remarry (1 Cor 7:39).  Jesus says that in heaven, we will neither be married nor given in marriage (Matt 22:30).  Your husband has moved on to await the Judgment (Heb 9:27), and you may – with clear conscience – start a new life.  You are not harming him nor are you defiling his memory by moving forward.

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