ON CHRISTIANITY

DEAR REV. GRAHAM : I think the idea that you should stay married to the same person all your life is out of date. I can’t imagine being married to someone that long. I’d get bored and decide to find someone else. You probably won’t agree, but it makes sense to me.

— L.G. DEAR L.G: I’m very sorry you feel this way — because there is no greater joy than sharing your whole life with the spouse God has given you. But if we enter marriage thinking that we’ll probably move on after a few years, we’ll never experience this joy.

After all, God gave marriage to us, and He meant for it to be a relationship that would last as long as both spouses are alive. The reason is because God knows we need each other, and only when we love each other and are committed to each other will we be truly happy. Otherwise our relationship will always be insecure and unstable, and we’ll never experience the joy God intends us to have. I often think of Jesus’ words concerning marriage: “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:6).

The greatest enemy of true love in a marriage is selfishness — living for ourselves instead of each other. If your only concern is what your spouse can give you, your relationship will always be shaky. But when you’re truly committed to each other, you’ll want to serve each other and help each other. This is true love.

How do we get this love? It is God’s gift to us, as we open our hearts and lives to His love. Turn to Jesus Christ and ask Him to come into your life today. The Bible says, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).