What marriage really signifies? What is the importance of marriage in our time? According to the Dictionary definition: Marriage is any of the diverse forms of interpersonal union established in various parts of the world to form a familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities and including, for example, opposite-sex marriage, same-sex marriage, plural marriage, and arranged marriage. (dictionary.com) Marriage is more than just a physical union, it is also a spiritual and emotional union. It is a commitment that men and women take to love one another unconditionally through trials and tribulations.
Personally as a Christian, I see marriage as a covenant as a gift from God. The Bible says in Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’ Marriage is the beginning of a long-lasting commitment, an opportunity to start a family with the love of your life and be partners for life. Most women dream of finding the love of their life, that prince charming, the one they want to marry and have children with, that person they would spend the rest of their life with.
The word marriage first appeared in 1250-1300 CE and derives from the Middle English term “mariage”. This is derived from the Old French term “marier” meaning ‘to marry’ (dictionary.com). There are many cultures, laws, and religions where marriage means the union of a man and woman. However, many people marry for several reasons such as legal, social, financial, emotional, or religious purposes. Although, before getting married, there are few topics extremely important that couples should not ignore such as whether or not to have children, religion, finances, and career should be discussed so that the couple can learn each other’s views regarding their future and mutual interests.
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There are several types of marriages such as polygyny, polyandry, and monogamy. Polygyny is the marriage between a man with various women at the same time. There are two types of polygyny: sororal and non-sororal. Sororal polygyny is the type of marriage that the wives are sisters and non-sororal means that the wives are not related. Polyandry the marriage between a woman with several men, which is also divided into two distinct parts: fraternal polyandry — when the brothers share the same wife — and non-fraternal polyandry — when the husbands are not related and the wife spends time with each husband as long as she desires.
Monogamy is the most commonly used type of marriage which consist in the union between a man and a woman. The homosexual marriage falls in the same category; the union of a man with a man or a woman with a woman. (sociologyguide.com). Reflecting on these types of marriages, I prefer monogamy because you can build a more intimate, unbreakable relationship with your husband or wife. Most people wish that their marriage would last a lifetime, but unfortunately the divorce rate continues to increase rapidly nowadays in American society because of the lack of understanding of what it takes to stay married. Getting married should not be a decision taken lightly. Many times, people confuse lust with love, and once that passion is gone, so goes the marriage.
Some people choose to marry a wealthy person for financial security, but at the end of the day, they realize that money does not lead to happiness. Also, some people want to get married because their sister is married or their friends are getting married. Marriage is not a trend or the last fashion item that you can go to the store and purchase. I know a couple that seemed to love each other and they dated for a few years, they decided to get married but unfortunately their marriage only ended up lasting around three months. Entering a marriage for the wrong reasons usually results in divorce.
Communication and trust are extremely important when it comes to having a successful and healthy marriage, however, marriage has been falling apart in our society for quite some time now. Comparing today’s generation to that of a hundred years back, we can notice that the term marriage is viewed very differently; that it is not valued like it was before. Nowadays couples are not looking for the commitment or responsibility that a marriage can bring, they would rather live together in a common law marriage without getting attached with any sort of law or religiously via a church because they say marriage is just a piece of paper.
Unfortunately, as the moral values of marriage keep declining, so is the stability of society. When a couple gets engaged, it brings happiness to both families. They spend a lot of time preparing for the big day, making sure everything is perfect, writing the vows that they going to tell to each other on that special day, but after the wedding, that is when you realized how difficult is to love someone with all and their defects. Because marriage is not about changing someone, it is about learning to love that person with their beliefs and defects.
Love, respect, patience, and trust have to reign in the midst of the marriage so it can be a healthy successful marriage, and most importantly is to put God first. In conclusion, marriage is more than just a physical union, it is also a spiritual and emotional union. Marriage is a gift from God to his people. Sadly, the institution of marriage it is at risk in this century because many people do not see the value of getting married.
Married couples have been shown to enjoy greater personal happiness, longer lives, better health, than those in cohabiting or uncommitted relationships. There is no doubt that children raised in families by their biological, married parents that grow in an ambiance of love and respect manifest better levels of success in all areas of life and also the risk of having physical, psychological, and social problems is less than those children of divorced or single parent families.
