A young Christian woman shared with me what one of her friends had said. This friend was not only a Christian, but a Bible school graduate. The friend said something to this effect, "What is the point of marriage anyway?" Of course, this Bible school graduate was not living according to the Biblical standards she had been taught, but was living like the world and sleeping with whomever she chose. The implication was that sex is available whenever I want, so why get married? I wanted to take her shoulders and shake her. (I don't know the person, but still...)
That interaction is what got me really thinking about marriage. Getting married so you can have sex is like buying a brand new fully loaded Rolls Royce on credit, with no idea of how to maintain the car and no means to do so simply because you like heated leather seats. You are going to ruin that car. You are going to feel the weight of that responsibility and probably resent it. But at least your buns will be warm...until the engine seizes because you never changed the oil.
Below is a quote from The One by Ben Young and Dr. Samuel Adams that beautifully summarizes what has been stirring in me.
Nailed it.The problem is we have bought into the silly, yet dangerous, notion that marriage will make us happy. What if, as author Gary Thomas puts it in his book Sacred Marriage, "God intended marriage not to make you happy, but to make you holy"? Fortunately happiness and holiness are not mutually exclusive... Marriage is not primarily about feeling happy every day. Marriage is not primarily about "getting your needs met." Marriage is not primarily about "getting the love you deserve." Marriage is not primarily about "getting the sex you want." Marriage is a 24/7/365 marathon designed by God Himself to knock off your rough edges and reform your selfish nature in order to make you holy.
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