My thoughts on divorce

I have been raised in a community that values marriage less and less. A lot of people think that it is just a piece of paper, and not worth much more. Many more people are cohabitating before marriage, and not planning on ever doing so. There are a lot of people who think that they don’t need marriage to show that their relationship means something. There are groups of people who are actually against getting married. People point out how high the divorce rate of marriage is and think that they don’t want to be part of that percentage. The problem is that marriage is an important part in the structure of a family, and being with someone for the rest of your life. Getting married shows that you are committed to stay with each other, and that you will not just walk out on each other whenever you get tired of the other person. Getting married shows that you are willing to work out your issues and not give up on each other.

Based on a study about divorce that Paul R. Amato did, the numbers show that children who have parents who are not married, or are single, are at a disadvantage. Having a mother and father who are married continuously provides an ideal household environment for children to grow up in. This makes sense, because a mother and father both provide for different needs that the children have. It also provides the children with a sense of stability, with the knowledge that their parents won’t just leave, but have made a commitment to each other.

A lot of people nowadays seem to not view commitment as seriously as it should be, and when they get married have the mentality that “if I get sick of this person, I have an out. I can get a divorce”. One of the reasons that divorce is at such a high rate is because people stop putting as much effort in their relationships, and then start falling out of love. They also give up more easily on their relationship because of that “I can just get a divorce” mentality. When you give yourself an out from the start, it makes it easier to just give up.

I recently just got through my first year of marriage, and to be honest, there were quite a few times this past year when I have considered just giving up and getting a divorce. My husband and I did not know how to interact with each other in a productive way and often had explosive fights that lead to a lot of pain. We had to go to counseling and ended up getting tips on how to avoid explosive fights and to interact with each other better. I am very thankful that I did not just give up. When I felt that way, I remembered that I made important covenants that are not easy to back out of. I think that whether you have made covenants or just not, you should still try whatever you can do to make it work. It is very hard at times, but it is worth it..