On Marriage

It would seem that whether or not a person should marry another is one of the biggest decisions a person has to make in the course of a lifetime. So, with that it mind, somehow we have to come up with a way to determine the pros and cons of marrying some particular person. In order to do that, we first have to decide on a purpose for marriage.

Movies these days have one main idea about the reason for getting married. For the most part, we're led to believe that the lone reason for marriage is because two people are in love. On the surface that seems like a really good reason. I mean, if they're not in love, what possible reason is there? However, while being in love is critical for making it work over the short term, what happens when that feeling subsides? Even Hollywood has movies that admit that sometimes it's possible to 'fall out' of love as well. But marriage is for life, so when the feelings aren't so great, what is supposed to hold it together?

Sex? Some might think so. But that's an argument that hardly holds water... especially in modern society. If sex is all someone wants, there's no reason to get married anymore. There's enough of that going on outside of marriages that to call it the purpose of marriage would be absurd.

Some might say companionship is the reason for getting married. Having someone to be around for the rest of one's life is a very desirable thing. But, just like the first argument, what happens when the other person annoys you, or flat out makes you angry... what's the purpose of sticking around then?

Having children? A lot of people say that they only stayed together because of the kids. But if that's the purpose, then what about people who never have children?

Clearly, the purpose of marriage goes deeper than the surface emotional, physical, and social benefits it provides. In my opinion, in fact, the purpose of marriage is very closely related to the purose of life. So what's that?

The purpose of life is simply this: to serve God and to work for His Kingdom.

It is my belief that the reason for getting married is so that two people, with different skill sets and some different interests, can combine their efforts to serve God better. There are many things that two people can do much better and much more efficiently than one... and in the case that there are children, three, four, etc. people can make a formidable team of God's workers.

Therefore, I would say that when considering whether or not to marry someone, the primary concern would be whether or not the two of you can work effectively together to bring glory to God. I'm not saying that the other factors are irrelevant, but chances are that by the time you're considering marriage, you've already experienced some love, physical attraction, and joy with the other person. I'm just saying that the crux of the decision should, just like anything else, be focused on God.

And then it truly can be eternal.