Marital fitness: All you need to know (1)

Marriage was designed by God. According to Genesis 2:18, the Lord God said it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him”. It is not manmade. God himself is behind the marriage and family set-up.

Having designed marriage, God gave commandments or rules to govern the institution of marriage, one of them is on Matthews 19: 4-6, ” that at the beginning the creator made them male and female and said, for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. Marriage is therefore the greatest challenge any two people can face. It requires maturity and wholehearted dedication to make it succeed.

Anyone who sets out to establish himself in a career or profession is aware of the intensive training and preparation that success in that career or profession will demand. Marriage requires the same or even more commitment.

Marriage is for mature people. It is for those who are able to take advice from their parents, elders and church leaders. The boys and girls who have attained 20 years above are fit to enter into this lifetime commitment. One is not expected to enter into a marriage setup and pull out of it for whatever reason encountered. The two that enter into this covenant should have sound minds.

The boy and girl who are independent financially can start planning for marriage. They should not engage into the business of thinking that their parents are going to meet their bills or come to their rescue when financially handicapped. Marriage is the full responsibility of the two wishing to get married. The couple must make sure that they have a house where they will be residing as soon as they wed. The house should be occupied by one of them just to make sure that the household equipment and utensils are already available for usage.

It has to be known that marriage should bring to both partners greater freedom not less. There is freedom to express affection, to share and to give oneself. Certainly those freedoms far outweigh whatever limits or effects marriage does have.