Marriage: God’s Design for Human Flourishing

In my last two posts, I’ve described how comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) harms children and, by extension, society as a whole. Now I’d like to explain God’s plan for sexuality and marriage.

During my early years in elementary school, each class would have library time. The librarian would read to our class, discuss the story a bit, and then we could check out our own books. One time, after the librarian read a fairy tale, she explained that the number three was a magical number that shows up frequently in stories: three wishes, three little pigs, or three children in Cinderella.

As I grew older, I realized that the number three may often appear in literature because of the trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Not only does creation declare the glory of God (Psalm 19), but it also declares the trinity. Groups of three show up everywhere: three primary colors, three states of matter, and three atomic particles.

Trinity Reflected in the Social Order

Del Tackett, the author of The Truth Project, pointed out that God’s triune nature also appears in his design for social order (see lesson 7 Sociology: The Divine Imprint). For example,

• The church consists of Christ, the elders, and the members.
• Marriage consists of one man, one woman, and God.
• A family consists of one father, one mother, and children.

Not only is man made in the image of God (Imago Dei), but the church, marriage, and family reflect the image of the trinity. Satan hates the image of God and attacks it whenever he can. That is why the church, biblical marriage, and biblical family are under attack in our post-Christian culture.

I’ve shown in my previous posts that deviating from God’s design for sex, marriage, and family leads to numerous physical, emotional, and relational pathologies. Now, I want to show the benefits of following the biblical prescription for marriage and family.

Benefits of Marriage

In the beginning, God created man and woman to become one flesh and to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:27-28). He invented marriage in the beginning and intended it to represent Christ’s relationship with the church (Ephesians 5:22-31).

A large body of social science shows that by following God’s prescription for sex, marriage, and family, we experience human flourishing. Married couples generally tend to be more financially secure, experience less stress, and live longer.

Men

For example, married men are more likely to be healthier and live longer than single men probably because when a man has a wife and children to care for, he lives more responsibly and takes fewer risks.

The auto insurance industry recognizes this. Young men get charged the highest rates because statistically, they take more risks than any other demographic group. Not until age 25 will they see their premiums reduced. However, if they marry before age 25, their cost of auto insurance will drop. The auto insurance industry doesn’t do this to be kind to the newlyweds. They recognize that married men are a lower risk to insure.

Women

Women also thrive better when married. They tend to have better health and a higher family income than single women. They are also less likely to suffer from domestic violence than cohabitating women.

Some claim that traditional marriage causes women to be subservient to men, and this has happened throughout time. However, men domineering women isn’t biblical. God made woman from the rib, not to the foot, to be a helpmate for man. The husband and wife who follow God work together as a team to use their different strengths and skills to raise children and serve God and mankind.

Moreover, Proverb 31 describes a godly woman as one who works at home and in the market. She buys a field and sells products. With a husband as the primary breadwinner, she can balance home life with work and find fulfillment in each.

Children

Numerous studies show that children thrive best when they grow up with their biological mother and father. Such children are more successful in school, less likely to be neglected, abused, or have emotional problems. Such children will less likely become involved in destructive behaviors such as crime, fornication, or substance abuse than children raised in other family arrangements.

Granted, some biological parents can be abusive, and a single mom can do a fantastic job raising kids, such as Dr. Ben Carson’s mom. But the odds are in favor of those raised in traditional families.

Benefits of Marriage to Society

Traditional marriage and family serve as the bedrock for a civilization. Without these God-ordained institutions, social chaos ensues.

For example, the settlement of Jamestown (established in 1607) nearly failed for many reasons, one of which was the bachelors’ lacked self-discipline. Each wanted to hunt for gold or do his own thing.

Although a handful of women had immigrated to the colony, more were needed to provide enough wives for the large male population. Due to this shortage, many men abandoned the settlement.

The investors realized that they would lose money on this venture unless they intervened.

London Company officials and investors wanted to make the colony at Jamestown permanent. Bringing over more English women, particularly women of an elevated social position, seemed to be the solution. By 1619, Company officials were actively promoting this plan, believing that the presence of marriageable women would make the men work harder, invest more of themselves in the colony, and improve the poor quality of life that discouraged many settlers from making Virginia a permanent home.

History of American Women

By offerings several incentives, such as land ownership, the London Company encouraged more women to brave the crossing of the Atlantic to become wives of these New World adventurers.

With wives and later children to care for, the men of Jamestown become more industrious and built businesses and farms to sustain their families and homes for them to live in. A population of families provides order and stability to the community.

The same effect can be seen today. Communities that consist primarily of traditional families are healthier, safer, cleaner, have better schools, and experience less crime than those communities made up of broken and dysfunctional families. Traditional families create stability in a community and a nation.

Conclusion

Obviously, the benefits of marriage for individuals and society far outweigh the “freedom” of the sexual revolution. By supporting and encouraging traditional marriage, our nation will experience increased physical and emotional health and higher productivity. Fewer people would need social services if they chose to commit to a lifelong marriage.

Instead of indoctrinating children in Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s perverted sexual revolution, schools should reinforce what societies have recognized throughout time: a thriving civilization relies on healthy traditional families as its foundation. We must teach children to save sex for marriage and how to build healthy marriage relationships that will endure a lifetime. Teach them that marriage is

“…. a sacred covenant designed by God to model the love of Christ for His people and to serve both the public and private good as the basic building block of human civilization. Marriage is intended by God to be a thriving, lifelong relationship between a man and a woman enduring through trials, sickness, financial crises, and emotional stresses.”

from Focus on the Family’s “The Permanence of Marriage”

By promoting and celebrating God-honoring marriage and family as the foundation of society, America can hope to reduce the social decay that plagues our nation.

The leftist ideas for society lead to death, but following God’s design for society leads to life and human flourishing.