Let's Stay Together

The good news is that divorce rates are declining. The bad news is that more couples of living together without getting married. The good news is that many children are being raised by a mom and a dad. The bad news is that premarital cohabitation arrangements rarely pass the test of time.

There is a new kind of divorce occuring that isn't necessarily being tracked. Couples splitting after living together for a year, two or more. Often children are involved and the pain and the heartache is no less real.

Studies have shown that couples who live together most often do not get married. These same studies also show that if they do get married, the chances of their marriage lasting is no better than for those who didn't live together before marriage. The statistics are even worse for divorced people who get remarried. They stand a 60% chance that their second marriage will also not succeed.

God's prescription for marriage is as simple as it is difficult. A man and a woman join themselves in a covenant pledging to remain faithful to each other while honoring and respecting their partner until death separates them. But our selfishness often gets in the way and the vows are cast to the wayside.

Selflessness is at the center of a successful relationship. To put your spouse ahead of yourself is what is mandated by a marriage covenant. If both participants in a marriage relationship are doing it, the marriage will succeed.

What erodes a marriage relationship? What have you seen in your experiences as the key for married people to stay married? What can a church do to enhance the possibility of marriage success?