Why Are You Married?

Why are you married?

Normally we do things for a reason, and we have a goal we're trying to reach.

So, why are you married?

Some of the reason people will give are, in no particular order -

• I wanted to have a family
• I didn't want to be alone any more
• I fell in love and couldn't imagine life without him/her
• It was about time - I wasn't getting any younger
• It was necessary for my career (yes, this is still sometimes a reason!)

These aren't necessarily bad reasons...well, except maybe for the career thing...but they're ultimately incomplete.

Yes, even having a family is incomplete.

The real purpose of marriage is not kids or holding off loneliness or appropriateness for one's age. The real purpose of marriage is to form a team that glorifies God.

Marriage is a sacrament, something that represents our relationship with the Almighty. In that line, we're called to "be Christ" for our spouses.

Kind of hard, really, "being Christ". I mean, this dude was and IS God. I'm so horribly fallible that sometimes I don't want to look in a mirror.

But the effort has to be made, and in making it, I lift myself. I try to reach something that's on a shelf higher than my arms could ever reach, but if I close my eyes and grit my teeth and keep trying...

...I find strong arms around me, lifting me up.

And not only lifting me up to be the best I can be for my wife...holding me up in full view of others, singles and marrieds and blog readers I'll never meet.

It's scary.

But this is what it's all about. We glorify God in our attempt to do what he asks, and that glorification shines a light that makes it easier for others to see ahead in a world that can sometimes seem very dark, and very cold.

That's why.