Why Should I get Married?

   Why should a man and woman get married?  Several answers to this question will be offered from the perspective of a man and woman who are capable of handling the responsibilities of marriage and who are scripturally qualified to be married.

   First, a couple should get married when they love each other so deeply that they cannot bear the thought of spending their days apart from one another.  In order to marry Rachel Jacob worked for his future father-in-law for seven years, “and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her” (Gen. 29:20).  That is true love.
   The apostle Paul instructs that a husband should love his wife as Christ loved the church- enough to die for her!  He should love her as his own body, nourishing and cherishing her (Eph. 5:25, 28-29).  A wife should love her husband enough to be subject and submissive to him and respectful of him as her husband (Eph. 5:22-24, 33).
   Second, a man and woman should get married because marriage is honorable and righteous and ordained by God.  At that same time, those who live in a relationship of fornication or adultery will be judged by God (Heb. 13:4).  Marriage did not come into practice by accident.  God designed and instituted it.  He created the woman from a bone out of the man’s body and personally brought her to the man (Gen. 2:21-24).
   Third, people should get married in order to find the completeness that God designed marriage, and marriage alone, to fulfill.  There’s deep meaning in how God instituted the marriage relationship.  It’s fascinating to imagine God fashioning the woman from a bone of the man’s body.  And there’s great significance to Adam’s identifying his wife as “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23).
   Fourth, the desire for children is a natural one.  Marriage is the relationship through which God designed that children would be born into the world (Gen. 1:28).  “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord” (Ps. 127:3-5).  Children should not be viewed as a nuisance or an inconvenience as has become common in our society in recent decades, with millions upon millions of unborn babies being aborted.  Indeed, children should be seen as blessings from God (Ps. 128:3-4).
   Fifth, men and women should see marriage as a relationship that is blessed by God, one that will enhance their lives emotionally, physically and spiritually.  As they find that right person with whom to share the rest of their life, the one with whom they will raise children, they should see that person as someone who will also help them get to Heaven.  The devil has enough temptations in his arsenal without adding an ungodly spouse to the mix in the most intimate human relationship that a person can experience (2 Cor. 6:14-16).  God warned Israel not to intermarry with the unbelievers that inhabited the promised land, lest those idolaters lead the Israelites to become unfaithful to God (Deut. 7:3-4).
   Marriage should always be entered into with a great deal of careful thought, planning and prayer.  With those considerations taken, these are good, even compelling reasons to get married…