COMMITMENT VS ROMANCE

Despite declarations of romantic love that we see so often today — especially during Valentine’s Day through gifts of roses and chocolates  — marriages today are more likely to end up on the rocks * than arranged marriages of yesteryear.

Why do the latter have better chances of making it through the years than many of today’s marriages? The answer, in one word: COMMITMENT.

Recently, I saw an old friend sauntering hand-in-hand with his new girlfriend. While his wife was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, he had found a new flame.

He later told me that his wife’s sickness had taken a toll on his marriage — he could not accept the fact his wife was no longer attractive after having undergone surgical removal of the breast. Furthermore, the stress of giving her emotional support was too much to bear.

But true love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).

While Valentine’s Day and romance do have a place in marriage, couples would do well to remember the importance of mutual commitment through thick and thin over the years.

God compares marriage, the sacred institution He established, to the relationship between Christ and the church. Both were meant to last.

* Of course, there are other factors leading to separation and divorce today such as greater  opportunities to socialise in the workplace; higher expectations and greater financial independence which women enjoy nowadays.