“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” Mother Teresa

I do love the thought of Valentines Day.  I love chocolate, flowers and romance!  But if the truth be told, there are now more singles than those married and the chance of a successful marriage is a challenge.

Love American Style isn’t working as well as we pretend it is.  Our country isn’t following the Biblical way of marriage which is respect for each other, loving for the other person’s sake and a life-long marriage where intimacy is shared.

Our society has had a culture shock in just the last two decades.  According to a poll taken by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2007, more than 12 million unmarried partners live together. The same poll indicated the number of cohabiting, unmarried partners increased by 88 percent between 1990 and 2007.

This is really a hard statistic for me to comprehend.  I grew up believing that marriage is sacred.  That you stay through thick and thin.  And that living together, unmarried, is a sin.

So if love and marriage is changing so much in our culture, perhaps we should look and see what God says about it.

The Bible says that “God is love”.  He invented love and performed the first arranged marriage and ceremony (Adam and Eve).  And throughout scripture, he compares the love of His Son to His Bride, the church.  He used this comparison of God and His believers to a marriage.  God wants us to be faithful to our spouses, to understand that the ultimate interlocking of a committed man’s and woman’s souls and bodies are a sanctioned union.

Yes, our culture takes cohabiting and casual sex for granted and even nods and winks at adultery.  But those who do have this lifestyle miss out on the extreme blessings that God gives for those who follow His standard. 

Is it hard?  Oh yes!  But for those who truly want to walk with the Lord, obedience is the only answer.  God did give us a handbook for how He wanted us to live the life He gave us – not to keep us from fun but to insure we live a life of joy and blessings.

Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the Five Love Languages, said, “I like to picture that inside of us there is an emotional love tank.  If the tank is full – that is we genuinely feel loved – than life is beautiful”.  I, personally, don’t see how anyone could truly feel loved without a solid commitment.

So for those of you in a marriage love your husband unselfishly!  And for those of you who are single, keep yourself pure before God and your respect high before others.