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The Key to Your Spouse’s Heart
Be a Marriage Evangelist!
Be a Marriage Evangelist!
Below are five, easy-to-remember, pro-marriage nuggets for you to use at your disposal. They are all backed up by research and are completely non-religious. They should help you answer the question, “Why marriage?”
Nugget #1
Marriage is better for the overall family dynamic.
Marriage increases the likelihood that fathers and mothers will have good relationships with their children. Also, growing up outside an intact marriage increases the likelihood that children themselves will someday divorce or become unwed parents.
Nugget #2
Marriage means more money.
Married couples seem to build more wealth on average than singles or cohabiting couples. In addition, marriage reduces poverty and material hardships for disadvantaged women and their children. And when it comes to married men, this group on average earns more money than single men with similar education and job histories.
Nugget #3
Marriage affects physical health and life span.
Every demographic seems to benefit physically when it comes to marriage. For instance, children who live with their own two married parents enjoy better physical health, on average, than do children from other family forms. For both men and women, marriage is associated with better health and lower rates of injury, illness, and disability. Married people—especially married men—have longer life expectancies than single men. And marriage seems to be associated with better health among minorities and the poor.
Nugget #4
Marriage promotes mental and emotional wellness.
Divorce appears to increase the risk of suicide significantly. Research also shows that married mothers have lower rates of depression than do single or cohabiting mothers. A married woman is also less likely to experience domestic violence, as opposed to her cohabiting or dating peers. Along those abuse lines, a child who is not living with his or her own two married parents is at greater risk for child abuse. And to top it all off, parents who divorce expose their children to higher rates of psychological distress and mental illness.
Nugget #5
Marriage is where the best sex happens.
In their book, A Case for Marriage, Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher refer to a study that was conducted by Edward Laumann and the University of Chicago in 1992. According to Waite and Gallagher, this study (also popularly known as “The National Sex Survey”) discovered that “married people have both more and better sex than singles do. They not only have sex more often, but they enjoy it more, both physically and emotionally, than do their unmarried counterparts. Only cohabiters have more sex than married couples, but they don’t necessarily enjoy it as much. Marriage, as it turns out, is not only good for you, it is good for your libido, too.”
There you have it; money, sex, happiness—they’re all tied to marriage. Most people—especially those who’ve experienced divorce—don’t make those associations. That’s why it’s up to you to encourage them and convince them otherwise. Marriage, done the right way, is still the best option when compared to the other available alternatives.
So commit yourself to becoming a marriage evangelist.
Some of the statements above are taken from the research study “Why Marriage Matters,” 2nd edition, and “The Case for Marriage,” by Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher.
How MarriageToday can help you become a Marriage Evangelist!
1. Sign up for our Weekly Marriage Builder and forward it to your family and friends.
http://www.marriagetoday.com/resources/weekly-marriage-builder/
2. Start a small group Bible study.
http://store.marriagetoday.com/collections/kits
3. Give somebody a book, CD, or DVD series.
http://store.marriagetoday.com/
4. Encourage couples to visit MarriageToday.com, where they’ll find articles, videos, and resources to equip them in marriage.
