Marriage

This past week we talked about marriage, cohabitation, dating, love, attraction, and a few other related topics. I learned that finding the right person to marry doesn't usually happen in a day. Building a relationship doesn't happen overnight and it takes effort to make it last. In order to build a relationship with a member of the opposite gender, you need to date. Dating consists of three p words. The date should be planned, paired off, and paid for. Paired off does not mean that there can only be two people it just means that everyone in the group should be paired with someone else. Following these guidelines, shows the other person that they really care. Dating helps you decide who you want to marry. People generally want to marry other people that are similar to them. Men and women that have similar interests and lifestyles, usually end up dating and eventually marry. Another option instead of marriage though is cohabitation. Cohabitation is the world's way of decreasing divorce rates by having people just live together before getting married. But the truth is that it doesn't help. People that live together before getting married are just as likely, if not more likely, to get divorced after marriage. Cohabitation is the same as marriage except the two people involved don't want to face the long-term commitment. They want to keep the relationship they have more open so that if something does happen, they don't need to get a divorce, they can just leave. Some cohabiting couples have children, and some couples do end up getting married later. However, we believe in the church that this practice is wrong and should not be participated in.

Another thing that we talked about is the definition of love. There are four main types of love and each has a different meaning and definition. The first kind of love is Agape. This kind of love is also known as charity. You can have this type of love for someone that you have never met. This general feeling of love helps people to get along and understand one another. The second kind of love is Storge. This is love between a parent and a child. It is immediate and it is strong. This love helps parents do what is best for their children. It binds them together in a way that nothing else could. It connects them and it helps the child to feel safe knowing that someone loves them. The third kind of love is Philios. This is brotherly love or what you feel for your friends and siblings. This kind of love keeps friendships alive and really makes them possible. The fourth and last kind of love is Eros. This is romantic love or what you feel for your spouse. This is a very strong type of love and it is built up over a period of time. It keeps parents together and binds them to one another. Each type of love is unique and serves a different purpose but each one is also important.

I have learned so much about the family and about marriage this past week. I know that getting married and starting a family is really important and I hope that one day I have to opportunity to be a part of that. Until next week...