Since a couple can’t get married for a while, should they break up?
Question:
Hello sir,
I've always found your advice useful and I hope you may help out. There is someone who is in a long-distance relationship. At the beginning of the relationship, the lady went off to college in a different country while the guy stayed behind. At present, she has four more years to complete. They deeply love each other but, due to the degree program which will last for four more years, they can't get married. If they did, the distance would definitely lead to sexual sin because the lady is still studying. Is it sensible for them to break up on such grounds or is there an alternative solution to such a predicament?
Answer:
Whether they get married or not doesn't not change the temptation to commit sexual sin. If they got married, but one has sex with another person, then that would be adultery. If they did not get married, but one has sex with another person or with each other, then that would be fornication. Their marriage or lack thereof doesn't change the situation.
It is really up to these two whether they want to wait that long before getting married or not. "But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion" (I Corinthians 7:8-9).
I would note that getting married does open the possibility of him moving to live with her while she completes her degree.
