Is it wrong to marry the person you love?
Question:
Hi,
I came to your website and followed it for a couple of days. I'm glad that you are helping people with your answers.
I want to know if Christians can have a love marriage? Is it against God's word or is it against God's will? If two people, who believe in Christ, are willing to marry each other because they love each other, is it breaking the plan that God has for us in our lives?
In my country, preachers don't recommend having a love marriage. Is it a sin or will God be unhappy if we do so? Please let me know.
Answer:
It is required that a husband love his wife. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25). Wives are to love their husbands. "So that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children" (Titus 2:4). That a couple loves each other before marriage just means they have a head start on doing what God requires of them.
An example is Jacob, who married Rachael because of his love for her. "Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, 'I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.' Laban said, 'It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.' So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her" (Genesis 29:18-20).
What is sinful are preachers teaching cultural customs as if they were God's laws.
