LOVE LEADS TO MARRIAGE

Since eros or erotic love is a natural love, as also is philia love, it's natural that when couples spend a lot of time together they begin to think about building a permanent relationship. In the adolescent years it is not possible to develop true and full agape love. It is not the time to settle into a permanent relationship. The widely practiced custom of going steady only leads to difficulties. Young people who spend too much time with only one member of the opposite sex create circumstances where passions can get out of control. Sexual experimentation then begins before marriage. Serious mistakes are made that lead to deep regret later. The teen years should be spent developing a wide variety of friends from both sexes. At a proper age young people can begin to date but not just one person. That way, a person can experience being with a variety of members of the opposite sex. You can know much better the type of person with whom you could spend the rest of your life. Don't ever consider marriage unless it is built on a relationship of growing love. Don't marry for convenience, desire, security, money or any other single reason. Marry because you have grown to love the person with whom you want to share the remainder of this physical life. Never live together outside the sacred bonds of marriage. From the beginning the almighty God instituted the marriage covenant as the most sacred of all ceremonies. It is the start of a new life together- the beginning of a new family unit. On the day God created Adam and Eve, he said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh"(Gen.2:24). God presented Eve to Adam in the first marriage ceremony. Marriage should be the most wonderful part of life and the wedding one of the most joyous days to remember. Marriage is a natural union but a divine institution ordained by the Creator God. A beautiful bride dressed in white, a handsome groom in a tuxedo or suit and an event shared by family and friends should be a happy occassion well worth remembering. How sad that too many marriages are not based on true love and don't last long. Joy turns quickly to sadness. Happiness turns to tragedy. If only everyone would put these things in the proper order. First, learn to love- really and truly love before beginning the sexual experience then plan a wonderful wedding.