Why Do People Get Married Anymore? (Part 2)

In last week’s blog, we talked about five different reasons people got married in the past:

1. Protection
2. Procreation
3. Companionship
4. Tradition
5. Economic advantage

With advancements in society and culture, many of those reasons aren’t as necessary anymore. So, has society progressed beyond marriage? With the alarmingly high rate of divorce today, is this a sign that we no longer need marriage? As a twelve-year-old asked her divorced mother, “Why do people get married anymore?”

The short answer is this: Marriage is still God’s plan. God created it. He instituted it. He gave it to us for a reason. If you think you know more about life than the One who created it, then you might think marriage is irrelevant. Marriages today aren’t failing because we have moved beyond it. Marriages today are failing because we’re not operating our marriages God’s way.

Here’s why people should still get married today:

• We’re still dependent creatures. As much as we might like to celebrate our own independence and self-reliance, we were created to be dependent. That’s why we pause three times a day to eat a meal and stop for eight hours a night to sleep. They’re constant reminders that we’re dependent creatures. We need other people. Marriage is a beautiful picture of how we’re dependent on others for our success. Marriage itself is a snapshot of our ultimate dependence on God.

• We still crave community. We’re by nature drawn to other people. It’s how we’re hardwired. We want to live in relationship with others. We’re naturally drawn to other people because we’re relational. We want someone to share our life with. We don’t want to go through the majority of our lives alone. God created us to be in community with him. Marriage is a living picture of what our relationship with God is supposed to be like.

• We still crave intimacy. Beyond community, we naturally crave intimacy (relationally, emotionally, and physically) with another individual. It’s not enough for us to simply have acquaintances. We desire to know and be known at the deepest level. That desire was instilled in us by our Creator. The proper framework that can offer intimacy while protecting our vulnerability is the framework of marriage. The intimacy of marriage is a picture of the intimacy God wants to have with each one of us.

• We still want the best for our kids. More than just what the Bible says, studies have continually shown that children raised in two parent homes generally do better in life than children raised in single parent homes. There’s a synergy that happens between mom and dad that’s critical for our children’s development. If not for our sake, for our children’s sake, marriage is still the best option.

Marriage is still God’s plan because we’re still made in God’s image. It doesn’t mean that marriage becomes easy. A decision to get married in today’s society is a leap of faith. It’s trusting that God’s way is best, even though the megaphone of contemporary culture is screaming the exact opposite. Marriage is designed to drive you to depend on God. You have to depend on God to make it (which explains the high number of failed marriages today).

Just because marriage is hard doesn’t make it something to be avoided. Raising kids is hard, but I embrace that willingly, knowing that the joy of seeing a child grow up successfully far outweighs the hardships endured along the way. It’s the same with marriage. The joy of being in a successful marriage far outweighs the hardships you endure getting there.

So go out there, get married, work hard at it, depend on God, and stay married. The reward will be worth it in the end.

QUESTION: What other reasons would you give why people should still get married today?

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