In Support of Marriage
By: C.L. Burrow-Green
I received an interesting statistical report recently. The link to it is below and I’d advise you to check it out when you can. The long and short of it is that marriage is down in the U.S. Presently, 45.1% of Americans who are of marriageable age are unmarried. And it cuts across all racial and ethnic groups. Everyone is affected.
As one who believes firmly in marriage, I’ll just step out on a limb and say that marriage is still the backbone of the nation. Families are still important. It is within the confounds of a family—husband, wife (and children if the couple make that decision) that civilization exists.
What happens when people are unmarried? Well for one, fornication increases. When fornication increases, diseases also increase. More deaths occur. Outside of marriage, there is an increase of boys in particular going to jail because children do better as a rule in two parent homes.
Look at what God has to say about families:
In Genesis 1:27 – 31:
So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.
And God said, See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground–to everything in which there is the breath of life–I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.
And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Cross references:
Genesis 1:27 : Col 3:9, 10; James 3:8, 9
BIBLEGATEWAY
Look at the gifts that are contained within a marriage bond:
Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.
It is through marriage that God gives us permission to be fruitful, not just with children. I believe that there is nothing that a married couple working together cannot achieve. Remember, one can chase a thousand but two can chase 10,000!
It is through marriage that a Christian is able to “fill the earth and subdue it”. Fill the earth with what? I believe that Christian families can change the world for the better and by example. And God is promising us that we can actually subdue the earth. God’s talking to Christian families, not to single folks. Of course, unmarried people can do a lot of good. But again, one can chase a thousand. Two can chase 10,000.
I have been unmarried and now I am married. From my standpoint, I can tell you that nothing beats a happy marriage. The key word is “happy”. Take your time. Don’t jump up and get married just for the sake of saying you have a spouse. Marry a man who can also be your best friend. My husband is definitely my best friend. I cannot even imagine being with anyone else.
If you are reading this and you are unmarried, don’t become desperate. However, you have the right to have a husband. You deserve to be someone’s wife, as opposed to someone’s sexual partner or baby maker.
Make up your mind that you are not going to be part of the statistic that says that most in the country are unmarried. Break through and create a family. Remember most of all that a family, according to scriptures is a man + a woman.