Regardless of your religious stance, this movement in America is a significant shift in the zeitgeist of our time. What are your thoughts about this shift in America's mentality of marriage? Better yet, what can you and I do to defend the sacredness of marriage when there has been such opposition?
See the article here: http://tiny.cc/ii7qj
I know personally I can testify as a dating person that it is hard sometimes to find men that believe in marriage. Plus as a woman that has been burned in the past by a man claiming to be a strong Christian man but that winding up to be what I believe to be a lie it is hard to trust and believe. Marriage is sacred I believe and I think that to some people it is just a piece of paper. I waiver back and forth sometimes on whether marriage is worth it sometimes when you can handle things so well on your own. I think that it is God’s plan for us to have a mate but sometimes I just wish I could hurry up and find that God has planed for me. I do think that American’s thought on marriage have shifted to a somewhat negative side but as believers we shouldn’t conform to what America believes and I think that is an issue too.
ReplyDeleteGreat point! I agree with you 100% that so many men in this country are to blame for the current fiasco surrounding marriage.
ReplyDeleteBiblical marriage is a truly beautiful thing—based on grace, forgiveness, honesty, sacrifice, and bound by covenant. Christian marriage is supposed to be the most visible picture of God's love for His people... but it certainly doesn't do that today.
Men need to step up and be godly, Christ-centered husbands; and women need to not compromise. It would be better to never marry than to marry the wrong man.
People are selfish. Marriage requires alot of sacrifice which most people these days dont want to deal with.
ReplyDeleteI think more pre marrital couseling would help with marriage. I can personally testify that i wasnt ready to get married, nor my partner. We both made stupid decisions and in the end will be another statistic of divorce.
For me personally, i still hope to re-marry in the future and be successful. But i know alot of people with bad experiences, personally or even with loved ones, are turned off by marriage.
Unfortunetly it seems we dont live in much of a bible-oriented world anymore. people do what they want, not whats right or best for a family.
~Alysha
I agree. My ex-husband and I even went through premarital counseling and argued all through the wedding planning and that still did not give us a clue that it was not going to work. I hope to get remarried one day as well. But for some reason a lot of men get turned off by my situation which I believe is so stupid and judgmental and God did not create us to think like that. Sometimes I even get to the point where I think geez I could do this alone. I have a Godly family to turn to and such but having a person that is so close to you that shares your goals is something that even a mom or dad can not be. I agree to that people are very selfish and some even refuse to grow up. Because of a hasty decision I am now stuck with this ungodly man to somewhat help raise my son which hurts me the most I think thinking back on it. I know if marriage ever presents itself again I will be 100% more careful to make the marriage what it should be.
ReplyDeleteMarriage can be the most wonderful blessing... or the most devastating burden. I know that all of us—married, unmarried, divorced, separated, forever-single, whatever—would agree that as we look back, there are certain things that we regret doing. There are certain things we know we messed up on.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of our past, it is vital that we look forward. Remember that God is a God of restoration. He is taking a broken world (really, a broken UNIVERSE!) and making it perfect. I know that He can take our broken lives and bring restoration, peace, and fulfillment. No matter what your present looks like.
Seek Him. Thirst for Him. Cling to Him.
As far as the article goes, these people seem to have had problems with marriage because they made the wedding define what their life together was gonna be, thinking that the more succesful, perfect, wonderful the wedding, the better their marriage would be. It seems like they don't know that marriage is not in the wedding celebration and is a lot deeper, like they say, than a paper.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, apparently we all agree that people are selfish. But life is so much better when we fight that selfishness! Selfishness is just settling to be the worst you can be, no matter how much you have done to please yourself, like they say in the movies, "you'll die alone". ... If you don't want to you will have to "put up" with someone.
I wonder what happens when people marry and it doesn't work. Could they be that confused that whatever seemed to be pure feelings at first were really only vane desires? Could it be that in the end each or one loved themselves too much to love the other anymore? Maybe either, maybe both, or something else. What I am sure of is that selfishness does play a part, and that satan will do all that he can to separate what God brings together.
For us, as Christians, I think we must lead first by example, and in our relationships do everything we can to stay together, to make the other better than ourselves, to keep them pure and not lead them to sin. And as a community, we should encourage others to fight for what is right, and to keep us pure, to hold one another accountable.
And for unbelievers, I don't think there is anything we can force. I believe that whatever we do for God's glory, He will bring light to it and show it to all people, how powerful he can make a union like marriage if the two people are following God with zeal, in which the other person plays a crucial part to be forgiving, compassionate, loving, and encouraging.
-Cristina