Another parable blatently stolen from Doug Wilson:

Once there was a man who would not write anything down. This was only a mild nuisance when it came to things like grocery lists, but it was a significant problem in his extensive business dealings. He would make agreements, as he put it, “the way his grandpappy did,” with a smile and a handshake. “We are all Christians,” he would say to those who had requested a written agreement, lease, work contract, whatever. And with that, his questioners went away feeling slightly disapproved of. Some of them sometimes wondered how something like regeneration could make your memory perfect, but none of them ever said anything. Of course, it was not long before his dealings were all in a perfect snarl. One day, while crossing the street at an intersection, he objected to a written message that, when summarized, read something like, “Don’t Walk,” and he was struck and killed by a UPS truck. His widow spent a number of years and many thousands of dollars sorting everything out, and at least three attorneys lived happily ever after.

The moral of this story is that contracts and covenants on paper, whether in business or in marriage, are not a bad thing.