Marriage is not just a civil contract; it is the covenant of love that exists for a lifetime between one man and one woman. Marriage is no longer defined by sex, but by love and a commitment of commitment, irrespective of sexual identity. The willingness and capacity for men and women to create the ultimate bond of love and life in marriage is written into their very nature. A marriage founded upon such a love becomes the most romantic of all, producing an everlasting affectionate affection between a husband and a wife.
If husband and wife are willing to apply Scriptural Definitions of love to their relationships, even an old-fashioned marriage and romantic love affair can be revitalized. More couples are creating ceremonies for ending marriages, lovingly and respectfully celebrating the lives they shared.
People frequently talk about love and relationships being a difficult job, acknowledging that the permanence of relationships is never a given, even in solid marriages. Marriages require work, commitment, and love, but also require respect in order to truly be happy and successful.
The decision to get married or to live with a partner is personal, but for most adults who get married or move in together, love and companionship override other considerations, like wanting children one day, convenience, or finances. Among cohabiting adults, women are more likely than men to say love and a desire to have children someday are major reasons why they have moved in with a partner. A 2013 Pew Poll reported that roughly nine-in-ten Americans (88%) say love is an extremely important reason for getting married, above making a lifelong commitment (81%), and being with someone (76%).
For most married people, the desire to have formal commitments is also a significant factor behind their decision to get married – especially if they did not live with their spouses prior to the wedding.
Why Intimacy Matters:
If today’s younger adults conceptions are any indication, Americans continue to value traditional, romantic ideals of love in their relationships, including lifelong marriage ideals. Elizabeth Brake, professor of philosophy at Arizona State University, calls modern rules for marriage amatonormative, prioritizing unions that are grounded in the romantic love between two individuals as the socially preferable arrangement.
In the future, couples will have monogamous agreements, defined at the outset of the relationship and frequently revised, held during open, honest conversations that incorporate their desires and fantasies, and renewed regularly with fresh views on their relationships. In the Rite of Marriage (1969), the men and women are asked whether a man and a woman will love each other faithfully and completely – in other words, whether they will love like God loves. Marriage is a close partnership where a husband and wife learn to give and receive love without selfishness, then to teach their children to do so, too.
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