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10 Things to Consider Before You Get Married

Marriage is a gift from God, intended for the joy and strength of those who enter it and for the well-being of the whole human family.
Marriage is a covenant of mutual promises, commitment and hope, legalized by the state and blessed by God.
Marriage demands mutual trust. While never perfected, trust is a quality of relationship nurtured and reinforced over time. The trust and mutuality afforded by marriage can make it one of the most beautiful, abiding and transforming of human relationships.
Marriage requires constant care and cultivation. It protects the creation and nurturing of mutual trust and love as one foundation of human community. It is a blessing to the world.
Marriage is part of our call to serve our neighbor. God summons us to attend to one another in life-giving relationship, regardless of its form or who participates.
Marriage is meant not only to legitimize physical sexual intimacy but to support long-term and durable communion for the good of others. In this communion the play and delight of physical love are crucial expressions of deep trust.
The public character of marriage implies a civil responsibility. Marriage is intended not only to protect the people in it but to signal to the community their intention to live a peaceful and mutually fulfilling life, endeavoring to strengthen their community.
Marriage is never merely about the people making a private promise to each other; their relationship and how they live it contributes to and is supported by their community.
Because marriage is a relationship where deep human trust and needs abide, it also can cause great harm. Many spouses experience neither love nor trust within marriage. Harming another person emotionally, physically or spiritually, including through the misuse or abuse of power, is a profound injury.
Marriage is a deliberate and ongoing public commitment, entered into by mutual consent, to share life’s good times and bad times, and all the ordinary times in between.

Sources: Statement on human sexuality; Journal of Lutheran Ethics article by Bishop Laurie A. Jungling

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