One of the biggest and most common marital misconceptions that many singles and married people have is seeing love as a synonym for marriage. Love is not marriage; love is only an aspect of the marriage covenant. Understanding that love is not synonymous with marriage, but rather a component of the institution of marriage, will go a long way toward helping the majority practice love in the right context and do so profitably.

Love is not equal to marriage, just as the dean of a faculty does not hold the same status as the vice-chancellor of an institution. The dean heads a faculty, while the vice-chancellor is the head of all faculties in the institution. Similarly, love is merely a faculty in the institution of marriage; we have other faculties such as finance, parenting, emotional management, sex, communication, etc. The problem with several young people entering relationships nowadays is that they seem to have overblown the concept of love as it relates to marriage. Many people, including believers in Christ, have misrepresented love in various ways and equated it with marriage to their own detriment.

Based on my counselling experience, I know brethren, and I have counseled quite a number of them who fell victim to wrong and regrettable marriages because they got married, placing love and marriage side by side.

READ ALSO, 20 IMPECCABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE LOVE.

I counselled a couple for almost six months some time ago. The man, who is now a pastor, was my contemporary in a church department about twenty years ago. Their situation was that he and his wife regarded love as equivalent to marriage, and this had taken a toll on their union of almost twelve years. For instance, from all indications, it was evident that he had never truly believed in his wife’s potential. If only he had, he and his family would be a hundred times better off than where they currently find themselves. Despite having a long career in banking, he could have been a hundred times better. I am not exaggerating here.

𝙎𝙀𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎, 20 Things Couples Do That Lead to Spousal Abuse.

Yes, they were probably in love when they met, but the man failed to understand what marriage demands from him. Marriage is a team effort. Marriage thrives when interests meet a mutual purpose rather than a personal desire or aggrandisement.
After over a decade of marriage with children, I was stunned by the manner in which this couple opposes each other’s dreams and goals, as if there is a medal awaiting them at the end of their marital challenges. In fact, the pastor has attempted to take his wife’s life twice out of anger and irritation. Therefore, be careful not to mistake love for marriage or emotions for convictions, because love is not enough to make a marriage fulfilling for any well-meaning couple.

Try not to love for love’s sake; instead, marry someone you love and love the person you marry. Also, be committed to employing the other aspects of marriage in good measure in order to bring out the best in your love in marriage.

©️ Seyi Igunsabi-Perez

SEE ALSO, 10 RELIABLE SIGNS THAT SHOW HE LOVES YOU!

Please follow and like us: