HEALTHY MARRIAGE

                                       WHAT IS MARRIAGE

Marriage is the formal union of a man and woman as husband and wife.  Marriage is not known to exist among animals, but man. To marry means to become the husband of a woman or to become the wife of a man. Normally, sane marriages are contracted by adults-males and females capable of fending for themselves-raising their own families with little or no help from parties outside the marriage.

The adult man and the adult woman are joined in marriage by recognized customs, traditions or religions.T o formalize a marriage is to follow officially recognized patterns: ceremonies, customs, and traditions that make a marriage legal and credible, such that the example of that marriage has been in existence.  Marriage should be genuine, legal and valid. There is always a show of appreciation for the marriage.

The first step into a marriage is an attraction. The man or the woman is drawn in by an offering of someone interesting or appealing into his/her life. The mutual offering draws the parties together and closer to each other by an unseen force.

The biblical book of Genesis puts Adam’s reaction when he woke up from his sleep to see Eve thus,” this is it! she is part of my own bone and flesh!, her name is a woman ’, because she was taken out of a man”(Genesis 2:23Goodnews Bible).

Thus, the origin of the woman is from the man. The unseen force helps all prayerful men and women to locate “their bones and flesh” from anywhere all over the world. Some persons are attracted to their would-be partners by mere seeing their photographs, other natural images like flowers, seeds, stars, the sun the moon, etc. Some get excited through letters, phone calls, the handwriting of each of the parties.

It is possible for persons who’ve not met before to get into affection for each other. Thus, a picture has registered in their hearts. Eventually, when they naturally meet face to face, in reality, an affection having been registered by mutual acceptance of the duo, the two can now move together without being ashamed or resentful of each other.

Really some people meet at school, restaurantswater bore hole, water well, natural stream ,market, on the way on a remarkable day, in ceremonies, religious and social gatherings, political and economic gatherings to mention but a few.

It is the uniting unseen force bringing them together for the purpose of living together in service to each other that really accords respect to their union.

Marriage is to form a whole person. There is a common slogan that says” no man/woman can claim to be successful until he/she has married” In other words, it is the marriage that brings wholeness to a man or woman . For a man to progress from master to mister and for a woman to progress from miss to Mrs.,  is divine. This apex age in life should be given enough attention or thought to avoid harm or mistakes.

Marriage is an apex age because no one knows what happens at his/her birth and death if old age is granted by our maker . It is important that those who are going through courtship and marriage should really handle this aspect of their lives with appropriate seriousness, so that” the sundown of life will be joyful, rewarding, sweet, peaceful and successful.”

Marriage is the mutual offering of the sweethearts to themselves .There is an existing feeling that someone special is in each other’s life. Their reactions, in form of letters, and coming together show that a relationship has gone to higher ebb. They share their joys and sorrows together. They exhibit real openness of hearts to each other.  Submission to each other now exist .This is called courtship ,the marriage is yet to be consummated .The man becomes the “fiancé” , while the woman becomes the” fiancée ”.The two words mean persons who are “engaged to be married” .An example being Joseph and The Virgin Mary in the Christian Bible(Matthew’s 1:18)