When Marriage Can Last Forever

Marriage can last forever, as many of us saw in the lives of our grandparents, maybe even our parents. However, most of our children today are not being shown that same example. Divorce rates have skyrocketed, with today's standard family being comprised of single parents, stepparents, live-in boyfriends and girlfriends, and practical strangers who move in and out of the children's lives like a passing breeze. This has created an incredibly insecure and unstable feeling for the children who don't know who or what they can depend on. In the day that marriage lasted forever for the majority of couples, there was also less crime, less suicide, less need for welfare, and less violence. The statistics of all of these things and more have increased as the number of people who honor their marriage vows has decreased. This is the world that we are giving to future generations. What has happened that has made divorce the easy answer for so many couples? To put it simply, there is little commitment, self-control, or sacrificial love today. If we get those back, we get the forever marriages back, as well.

Marriage is work. People seem to have forgotten that in today's world of "quick and easy" everything. From microwaves to internet connections, we want things to be perfect in short order. This is okay in the world of devices, but it's not how relationships are built. Relationships are built through a sometimes difficult, but ultimately rewarding, series of events that must be worked through together. If you would incorporate the following three elements into your marriage, you would be able to have the forever love that will set a standard and example for our own children to emulate.

CommitmentFrom the time of the those initial vows, don't let the option of divorce even enter your mind, or your mouth. Make a covenant in your own heart and mind to fulfill the promises that you're making. Commit to do whatever it takes to have a happy relationship with this person and follow through on that.

Self-control will help you avoid many of the pitfalls that destroy marriages and families. Affairs, hurtful words, selfish actionsthese are all things that happen when a person lacks self-control. In a world that tells you to "follow your heart", make a better choice and lead it. Our hearts are often deceitful, self-seeking, and based in emotion rather than intelligence.

SacrificeTo truly make a marriage work, there must be two people who are willing to put the other person's needs and desires ahead of their own. Even if you begin doing it before your partner, eventually he or she will want to follow suit. Their needs are being met by you, so they can focus on you rather than making sure they have all that they want.

Marriage can last forever. It is even possible today, in a world that is fully accepting of divorce, and even applauds it at times. But, it takes work and it takes two people willing to sacrifice, commit, and control themselves in order to succeed.