Kate Middleton and Prince William: Marriage made in Heaven? (Part 57)

The Official Royal Wedding photographs

The Royal Wedding at Buckingham Palace on 29th April 2011: The Bride and Groom, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the Throne Room.

Prince William and Kate moved in together about a year ago. In this clip above the commentator suggested that maybe Prince Charles and Princess Diana would not have divorced if they had lived together before marriage. Actually Diana was a virgin, and it was Charles’ uncle (Louis Mountbatten) that gave him the advice that he should seek to marry a virgin.

I really do wish Kate and William success in their marriage. I hope they truly are committed to each other, and if they are then the result will be a marriage that lasts their whole lifetime. Nevertheless, I do not think it is best to live together before marriage like they did, and I writing this series to help couples see how best to prepare for marriage.

I read an article recently that was very helpful on this subject. “The Seven Myths of Cohabitation,” by Patrick & Dwaina Six is an article that I will be sharing in this series the next few days. Here is the first portion:Cohabitation is nothing new. It happened in Biblical times, too. Remember when Jesus spoke with the woman at the well in John 4:17? When questioned about her husband, she answered that she had no husband. A popular contemporary Bible version renders Jesus’ response as, “That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.” (John 4:17 The Message) Jesus didn’t avoid the issue. He didn’t excuse it. The woman in John 4 obviously had had a bad experience in marriage (since she’d been married five times) and she was surely experiencing emotional pain because of it. Jesus didn’t scorn her or berate her. He simply addressed the truth of the situation and moved directly to her real need.

Cohabitation was out of favor with the general American public for many years – in fact, it was called “shacking up” just a few decades ago. However, in recent years, it has resurfaced and grown into a socially accepted lifestyle in many ways. This is contrary to God’s Word. It is morally wrong to live together outside of marriage. Scripture teaches that God designed sexual intimacy for marriage and that we should all “abstain from… sexual immorality” (Acts 15:20).

You’re probably asking, “What does this have to do with me? I’m married!” The Bible admonishes us that “Marriage should be held in honor among ALL.” (Hebrews 13:4) So we need to know how to honor marriage by speaking truth into situations we encounter. We think it is helpful to be aware of commonly-held myths of cohabitation, to be able to discuss them, and to present truth to our friends, family members, co-workers and yes, fellow church members.