I was having a conversation with a woman in the store the other day and we both agreed that this year seems to have flown by. She was skimming through the magazines as we both waited in line to pay for our groceries. She giggled and said, “These young folks these days aren’t like us baby boomers, they’ll live together for years before they even think about getting married.” When I got home, I decided to do a little research to find out how much of the younger generation are forgoing the sanctity of marriage all together. To my surprise, studies show that a 70% drop in marriage rates for millennials is a very real possibility. This may not be surprising to most people, but knowing what the Word says about God’s standard, He’s not pleased that we’re moving further away from the institution of marriage that He has ordained.
We all know plenty of individuals who got married, bought homes and started families only to find themselves later down the road getting divorced. Divorce is often an extremely painful process, and some people take a very long time to get over the hurt. Given this, several people are left with the impression that it’s better not to take the risk than to give your all and end up with nothing in the end but heartbreak.
The alarming thing about this is that people are leaving God completely out of their decision making about marriage. They are forgoing it altogether and opting to live together instead. This is part of the world’s standards and systems, but typically if society gives it an okay, it’s nowhere near okay with God. 1John 2:15-17 (NLT) tells us, “15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”
When life throws enough heartache and pain our way, some of us ask ourselves what went wrong and how do we fix it. We do this because we recognize that life affords us an opportunity to self-correct so we can make things better. God has told us in James 1:5 that if we lack wisdom, we must ask Him and He will not be angry with us for asking but will help us discover His truth. In many of the relationships that have failed, people didn’t invite the Lord Jesus Christ to lead them so they could resolve issues through his love. They tried to handle things on their own. We can’t do this, especially when it comes to another person’s heart. We must lean totally on Jesus Christ and be led by the Holy Spirit, then the love of God will bring healing and restoration.
When we put God first and allow Him to guide our decisions, we will partner with a person that is right for us. People will say that they don’t want to take the risk of marriage, and that is why they live together, but there is no risk in honoring God through marriage. We simply must understand and be clear that relationships were designed by God so He can work through us to achieve His purpose. We should never do anything to harm this process, and if we trust and lean on Him, we won’t. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Marriage or Living Together?” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.