No commitment

I just happened to read a very good sermon today on the subject of cohabitation (living together, with sexual intimacy, without marriage).

The key points were:

(1) Christian morality on this point hasn't changed.

(2) Sociological and economic data show that cohabitation is a bad deal.

"Trial marriages" don't prevent divorce; they increase it. And couples who won't make a commitment together can't in honesty plan their future together.

So what would I ask a couple who decide to live together and perhaps have children without getting married? My question for any cohabiting couple would be, "Where do you expect to be in ten years?"

Almost invariably, one of the two does expect to be married, and the other expects not to be married — in effect, expects to break up.

And when you break up, you will be turning someone loose on the world after having used up a good bit of her or his life. Will that give your ex-partner a good life in the future?

But maybe, when you break up, you expect to be tired of your partner, and angry, and not to care about the other person's future.

You see the underlying theme of exploitation rather than love.

Cohabitation = lack of agreement = taking advantage of someone, getting them to give what you won't give.

Married in 1971, still together and still smiling!