Marriage Made in Paradise

alone. . .”
The purpose of marriage is to meet man’s need for companionship. Marriage was designed to defeat loneliness. Companionship is, therefore, the essence of marriage. Consider:
“. . . the strange woman . . . which forsaketh the guide (companion) of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God” (Prov 2:16a-17).

“. . .the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant” (Mal 2:14).

In these verses, companionship is closely associated with marriage. Aloneness can be countered only by means of the two elements found in the two distinct words translated “companion” in Proverbs and Malachi. Each of the two words refers to one side of companionship.
The word used in Proverbs refers to one “in intimate relationship with”;
The word in Malachi refers to one “associated with, or united to.” Together, they speak of a relationship in which there is constant commitment and intimacy.
∙ Intimacy apart from commitment to remain together is not adequate;
∙ Commitment to remain in association apart from intimacy is equally deficient. Both elements are necessary to defeat loneliness.

According to an article by Felicity Barringer of the New York Times, trial marriages do not increase the chance of a marriage lasting or being successful. In fact, those who live together before marriage, separate and divorce in significantly greater numbers than those who go directly to the altar.

Perhaps the most common wrong idea about the purpose of marriage is the belief that marriage is primarily for the propagation of the human race. That belief confuses mating and marriage. The human race, like gerbils, or cats, or rats, does not need the marriage institution for that purpose. Indeed, in many places, the human race, like animal races, is being propagated all too successfully without the benefits of marriage!
No, marriage is more than mating. Marriage is companionship, one aspect of which involves mating. The intimacy of biblical companionship extends to every aspect of human nature. That is one reason why sexual relations are to be limited to the marriage relationship. There can be no intimate companionship between two persons when a third intervenes. Fornication, adultery, and even polygamy vitiate true companionship because they destroy the intimacy of a constant, close relationship. There is an exclusiveness to this “one flesh” relationship.

You don’t really have intimacy without commitment! Josh McDowell writes:
A little over a year ago I debated the co-founder of Playboy on television for three hours. He agreed with me on this point. My statement was this—we have not been through a sexual revolution. We have not. What we have been through in the last fifteen years has been a revolution in the search for intimacy. Most of our young people do not want the physical aspect of sex, they want someone who cares. They want to be able to care. They want intimacy. We have allowed our culture to dictate to us that the only way you find intimacy is through the physical—and that’s an absolute lie!
One woman called me at a university. She said, “Mr. McDowell, in the last five nights I’ve gone to bed with five different men. I got out of bed tonight and looked back and said to myself, ‘Is that all