7 Reasons Marriage Matters for Lasting Relationships
Marriage remains important. Despite lower marriage rates in recent years, marriage still offers meaningful benefits. Healthy, fulfilling marriages exist and are attainable.
When I was 19, fresh out of university and imagining my future partner, a visit to a grieving church member unexpectedly shook my ideas about marriage. Two married women from our congregation spoke in disheartening terms, describing marriage as something empty and unrewarding.
Their comments included complaints that intimacy was “for men” and rhetorical questions about its value. Hearing that, I left uncertain whether I ever wanted to marry. If those with access to the full benefits of marriage could not enjoy them, what was the point?
Their pessimism felt like a brief course in discouragement. Today, negative messages about marriage are widespread. Constant exposure to such views can make singles wary of commitment and make married people consider divorce.
Still, marriage can be one of life’s most rewarding experiences—deeply satisfying, joyful, and enriching.
Below are seven reasons why marriage is important:
1. You share your life with someone
Companionship is a core human need. The Bible notes that it is not good for a person to be alone, and marriage provides structured companionship. Sharing life’s highs, lows, and everyday moments with a partner makes challenges easier to bear and joys more meaningful. Studies also show married people often enjoy better health and longevity. “Two are better than one,” Ecclesiastes 4:9.
2. Sex
Within marriage, sexual intimacy can be a source of emotional closeness, stress relief, and mutual satisfaction—free from guilt or secrecy. Sex in marriage supports bonding and can lead to children if the couple desires them. Outside of marriage, sexual relationships may carry emotional and practical consequences that differ from a committed partnership. Proverbs 5:18–19 celebrates marital intimacy as a blessing.
3. It is a divine idea
For those who view marriage through a faith perspective, marriage is a divine institution. The Bible describes marriage as the union of man and woman and urges that what God has joined together not be separated. For believers, marriage is both a gift and a covenant that reflects God’s design for companionship and commitment (Mark 10:6–9).
4. It teaches love
Romantic feelings may start a relationship, but marriage teaches intentional love. Over time spouses learn patience, kindness, forgiveness, and perseverance. These qualities deepen a relationship beyond initial attraction. The well-known description of love in I Corinthians 13—patient, kind, and enduring—captures how married love can grow into a resilient, self-giving commitment.
5. It is healthy for the nation
Stable marriages contribute to social stability. Strong family relationships serve as a foundation for communities and nations. When couples build resilient unions, they help create supportive environments that benefit society as a whole.
6. It is healthy for kids
Children benefit when they grow up in households where parents have a strong, cooperative relationship. A healthy marriage provides a model of unity, communication, and commitment that children can internalize. While no family is perfect, stable marriages tend to offer emotional security that supports a child’s development.
7. You grow up
Marriage accelerates personal growth. Living with and loving another person pushes you to develop maturity, empathy, responsibility, and better communication. These life lessons often carry over into careers, friendships, and parenting.
Learning to support one another through work, sorrow, and everyday moments can create deep bonds that last a lifetime:
“What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel they are joined for life—to strengthen each other in all labor, to rest on each other in sorrow, to minister to each other in silent, unforgettable moments at the final parting?”
Go forth—consider marriage and, if married, invest in your relationship so it can flourish.
Do you know other reasons why marriage is important? Share your thoughts below.
