{"id":2193,"date":"2011-03-07T10:33:13","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T15:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=2193"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:47:33","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:47:33","slug":"living-together-falling-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/03\/living-together-falling-apart\/","title":{"rendered":"Living together, falling apart"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>Why don\u2019t more couples who live together stay together?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/sites\/56\/2011\/03\/couple-s-sunset.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2195\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/sites\/56\/2011\/03\/couple-s-sunset-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Marcel over at <a href=\"http:\/\/marysaggies.blogspot.com\/2007\/10\/cohabitation-again.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Aggie Catholics<\/strong><\/a> offers one answer:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The analogy that is most commonly used is that cohabitation is like taking a car on a \u201ctest drive\u201d. The problem is that when we use people as objects, it is the worst thing we can do in a relationship. Pope John Paul II said the opposite of true love is use. This is because we make them less than human when we use them. So, when we cohabitate we are using them in every respect, whether it be for sex, companionship, intimacy, good feelings, etc. \u2013 because true love is wanting the best of someone regardless of the cost to yourself.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, if you never have sex before marriage, you will learn along with your spouse how to be compatible with one another. There is no need to \u201ctest drive\u201d any other person.\u00a0It is offensive to even think so.<\/p>\n<p>Putting a relationship in such a \u201cdanger zone\u201d is\u00a0<em>never <\/em>loving. It basically is saying to the other person (or more than likely to each other) \u2013 I see you as useful to me at this time and therefore I am willing to take a risk in hurting you physically (pregnancy, disease, etc), emotionally, spiritually and relationship-wise.<\/p>\n<p>This is the\u00a0short\u00a0reason that cohabitation leads to such statistics. Marriage should be a permanent state \u2013 for Christians it is a covenantal and sacramental bond that is irrevocable. This permanence along with faithfulness offers a safe environment for real sacrificial love to grow. When a relationship can be changed like a shirt, love can\u2019t grow to it\u2019s fulfillment.<\/p>\n<p>To make yourself a true gift to someone is the point of marriage. When you cohabitate, you are only able to give a partial gift \u2013 which points the relationship down a dead-end street.<\/p>\n<p>A partial commitment is no commitment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/marysaggies.blogspot.com\/2007\/10\/cohabitation-again.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Read more<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why don\u2019t more couples who live together stay together? Marcel over at Aggie Catholics offers one answer: The analogy that is most commonly used is that cohabitation is like taking a car on a \u201ctest drive\u201d. The problem is that when we use people as objects, it is the worst thing we can do in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[11180],"class_list":["post-2193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-great-links","tag-marriage"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Living together, falling apart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why don&#039;t more couples who live together stay together? 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