Sex Before Marriage &
Living Together
What about sex before
marriage? What about living together before marriage?
If you go by what
you see on TV and movies and hear in popular music, you would get the idea
that “everybody does it.”
But even if most “everybody”
seems to be doing it, is there any reason to consider some different options?
Assuming that the
divorce rate for first marriages is about 50% ~ and that a high percentage
of those who divorce are also parents ~ there is a growing concern about
the damage done to the children of those who divorce. This concern
about the consequences of divorce, especially for children, has more and
more couples and sociologists searching for ways to establish stable and
satisfactory marriages that are more likely to succeed than to fail...and
end in divorce.
It is the determination
to establish better....even "divorce proof"....marriages that has motivated
the investigation of whether sex before marriage and living together might
be factors to re-consider for individuals and couples who want to
establish a better and life long marriage.
Here is a list of
web sites and articles that I hope you may find useful!
"Don't Marry (or date) a Jerk" - John Van Epp has a lot of great material a http://www.lovethinks.com If you did not already look at this material...take a good look!
First Things First
http://firstthings.org/ is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to
strengthening families in Hamilton County, Tennessee through education,
collaboration and mobilization. The following links are to First
Things First Resource center:
First Comes Love, then comes...Living together.
What you should know about Living Together.
“Couples who are living together/sexually active” by R. Ruhnke. This is Chapter 6 of For Better and For Ever. It is a text and reflection questions for dating/engaged couples.
Cohabitation"
by Kerby Anderson
“How far can we go?”
Simon
PremaritalSex:Positives&Negatives
A Reflection for Couples who are Living Together http://www.rootedinlove.org/