Why you shouldn't live together before marriage

Six reasons to stop cohabitating today.

In our culture, friends with benefits and cohabitating are part of our culture. But in the Scripture, we see another way, and the scriptural way is better, which I will prove to you today in this article. Now let's start from the beginning. In the 1970s, only 0.2 couples cohabitated. Today it's about 15 percent of couples ages 18 through 34. Now 78 percent of people ages 18 through 29 say it is acceptable for unmarried couples to live together, even if they don't plan to get married. Now that's majority of people in our world today. But 41 percent of Christians find the idea of living together is a good idea. Even though 58 percent of white evangelicals approve of cohabitation, if couples plan to get married. What does the Bible say, and why should you wait until you get married for you to move in together and live with the person that you want to spend your life with? Well, reason number one In the beginning, being naked was reserved for for a man and his wife. In Genesis 2:24–25, it says:That means you should not be naked with anybody who is not your wife and who is not your husband.

The second reason is that cohabitation is a form of fornication. So not only does the Scripture outline this pattern, You should be naked with the person who is your wife or your husband. But secondly, the Bible also tells us that cohabitating is actually a sin of fornication, and in 1 Corinthians 7:2, it says: That means that we are limited in our sexual expression with our spouse. Not with our boyfriend or our girlfriend We can't be living with somebody who is not our spouse as though they are.

The third reason why you should not be cohabitating and stop living together, is that living together does not constitute marriage. Now in John 4:17–18,

Jesus met a Samaritan woman, and the woman answered and said, after Jesus said, "Hey, bring your husband." And she says, "I have no husband." And Jesus said to her, "You have done well for you." have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you have now is not your husband; and that you spoke truly." So this man that this woman most likely was living with, even though she is with him, but he is not her husband, and Jesus says, "Hey, just because you're living together,"It doesn't mean you're married." That's why she doesn't call him her husband. He says, He is not your husband. So living together does not constitute marriage.

The fourth reason is Living together has negative consequences for your future marriage. Married adults have higher levels of of relationship satisfaction and trust than those living with an unmarried partner, pure research tells us that. The Journal of Marriage and Family tells us that couples who live together before marriage are 46 percent more likely to divorce after they get married. So living together as a way of testing out a relationship, statistically, does not improve your chances of marital happiness down the road. It actually decreases that.

Dr. Patrick did a statistical analysis of cohabitation in America, based on the findings of a number of academic resources, and this is what his conclusions were. He found out that relationships are unstable in cohabitation. One out of six cohabitating couples stays together for only three years. and one out of ten survives five or more years. He also found out that cohabitating women often end up with the responsibility of marriage, particularly when it comes to caring for children, without legal protection and, a lot of times, without financial support. Research shows that Women contribute more than 70 percent of a relationship's income. This whole cohabitation thing is really a benefit to men, and it's a burden to women.

Cohabitation, as this doctor also found out, brings a greater risk of sexually transmitted diseases because cohabitating men are four times more likely to more likely to be unfaithful than husbands. So guys who cohabitate are four times more likely to be unfaithful.

Another thing they found out about the cohabitating couples was a statistic that said that poverty rates are higher among cohabitators. Those who share a home but never marry, have 78 percent less wealth than those who are continuously married. Another thing they found out about cohabitating couples is that those who actually suffered the Most people in cohabitational relationships are actually children. The poverty rate among the children of Cohabiting couples have a rate five times greater than the rate among children in married couples'households. Children ages 12 through 17 with cohabitating parents are six times more likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems and are 222 percent more likely to be expelled from school.

Ouch. So for those of you who think that God's rules are outdated, God's standards are to take away your blessing. It's the furthest thing from the truth. You must understand that when you live together, the statistic actually is against you that women end up carrying most of the load, Children suffer as a result, and men tend to cheat more because there's no commitment attached and that seems to drive men into cheating mode.

Now, of course, most of these statistics relate to people who are not following the Scriptures or Christ, because those people probably wouldn't

be cohabitating. But I'm pretty sure if you're watching this video, there's a very high chance you're a Christian who is cohabitating and who thinks there's nothing wrong with it.  

Now, reason number five is why you should not be cohabitating. Living together adds to the mix of generational curses. Dr. Bob Larson, in one of his blogs, said the following: "According to statistics, A cohabitating couple usually enters into two or three cohabitations. Every cohabitation adds to the mix of generational evil. The more partners in fornication, the more likely spiritual contamination." That's crazy. With one marriage partner, you have two bloodlines of curses to deal with. with. With two cohabitations, it's four; with three cohabitations, it's six, and so on. That does not include all the hookups along the way. So this is from Dr. Bob Larson, an exorcist who does deliverance and encourages. His point is that a lot of cohabitating couples have more than one cohabitation. They actually accumulate a mix of generational curses that will drastically affect their future.

The sixth and final reason why you should not cohabitate is that living together devalues women. Women tend to bring more to the relationship. more work and effort to keep the relationship, but they get less commitment, security, and satisfaction from the relationship. Men tend to be drawn to a woman's physical appearance, which decreases with time. Women are drawn to men's power,  resources, which tend to increase with time. Now Marriage provides a safety net for changes in both finances and physical appearance. grounding both people in an institution that provides more security for a woman, as it provides more stability and protection for a man as well.

Marriage is a very pro-woman institution. Cohabitation devalues women. Now, if you're reading this article and you are cohabitating, My desire is not to guilt-trip you. Even though I'm hoping that from this article, it's pretty clear It is not God's will. In fact, it is a sin to live together before getting married. 

Don't use that lame excuse, "Well, we're living together, but we're not having sex." You know that, That's not going to fly. Even if you're not having sex and you're living together, what kind of of a testimony, you're jeopardizing your testimony because nobody in their right mind will believe that. And so it's a bad testimony to the world, and we need to live our lives in righteousness and purity.

Three things I will give you in the conclusion if you are cohabitating are:The Scriptures and the statistics are not in your favor. That's one thing you can do.

Secondly, find separate living quarters and stop having sex until you get married.

The third thing is to get married quickly and have a formal wedding later. This third thing is mainly for people who are living tTogether, they have children already, and their lives are so intertwined that they actually are like husband and wife. The only difference is that they're not married and they go to church. A lot of times there's a sense of guilt, and rightly so because they're not living in pleasing to God. They're not following God's standards. And so a lot of times, people use this excuse. "Well, we want to save money. We want to save a lot of money, so we can have a fancy wedding." Well You're kind of living in sin, so it's just better to have marriage now and then have the formal wedding later.

So you really only have one of the three options. Continue to be friends with benefits, but the Bible and the statistics are actually not in your favor. Number two is separate and stop having sex until you get married, and number three is to get married, go to court Get married, sign the paper, have somebody pray for you, break their curses, and then have a formal wedding later. God bless you.

Thank you for reading along. I hope that this brings clarity and conviction. So that you can follow the ways of Jesus, the ways of the Bible, and the way that could bring a blessing into your life.