Ephesians chapter 5 says:
31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."... 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Marriage as an institution is solid, Scriptural, beneficial to both man and woman, provides security for the children in the family, and glorifying to God - it's a key component of His plan, as it reflects the relationship of Jesus, the head of the church, to his bride, the body of Christ. So, by being married and exhibiting a Christ-centered marriage, we demonstrate to the world the love of God.
But while marriage as an institution continues to represent God's best, there is a decline in the percentage of the population that are part of it. Listen to these 3 key components of a Pew survey on marriage based on Census data:
Barely half of adults ages 18 and older are married– 51% in 2010, compared with 72% in 1960. This decline is especially notable for young adults: 20% of 18- to 29-year-olds were married in 2010, compared with 59% in 1960. (the percentage in 2000 was 57%)
Associated with this trend is that the age at which men and women marry for the first time continues to rise to record levels. In 2011, the median age at first marriage is an estimated 28.7 for men and 26.5 for women. That means half of men don’t marry until at least about age 29, and half of women don’t marry until at least about age 27. In 1960, the median age at first marriage for both men and women was in the early 20s.
A third key statistic in the report the number of people who married in the previous year. In the Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey, that number was down 5% from what it was in 2009, which may or may not be related to economic hard times.
Now, there are reports that show that the divorce rate does seem to have leveled off
Pew's analysis began this way: "A new Pew Research Center report confirms that marriage continues to lose market share among Americans to other arrangements, such as cohabitation or living alone." The Washington Post quoted Rose Kreider, a Census Bureau demographer who specializes in household statistics, who noted last year that 7.5 million couples were living together without being married, a 13 percent jump in just one year.
And, cohabitation is an ineffective arrangement and violates God's standards. And, adultery provides a challenge to the marriage relationship and becomes a huge destructive force. And, it is promoted aggressively in the media. Just today, a Los Angeles Times story cited Parents Television Council research: “Prime-time TV is starting to look like an ad for Ashley Madison, the online dating service for married folks, where the message is, ‘Life is short. Have an affair.'” The Times further shows this trend coincides with a decline in actual marriages and warns of the cultural and sociological effects of consequence-free TV adultery occurring far more frequently than in real life.
Even the redefinition of marriage and family to include same-sex marriage presents new challenges. But, the fact remains, as in all of Scripture, God's way is best. Even though judgment can be clouded by economic and social pressures, it does not diminish the reliability of God's Word concerning marriage - or anything else in His word. May we see more clearly that adherance to His principles brings joy and security to our lives.
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