Can a woman only become spiritually mature in marriage?

Question: I have heard it expressed before by a past preacher in a church of Christ that he did not consider single women to be mature in Christ.  The implication being that all women must marry if they are to obtain maturity spiritually.  This perplexes me and I find myself coming back to his statement…

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I want to get married, but I have no money. Can you help me?

Question: Thank you for the advice you gave in response to questions people have asked about how to avoid sexual immorality. According to one of your statements, you advise people to marry in order to avoid such sin. The issue is that I’ve reached the age to marry, but I have no money to accomplish that.…

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Husband of One Wife

by Carl A. Allen Sometime in 1974 or 1975, while living in Colorado, I was invited to attend a gathering of brethren who believe in the “no Bible Class” arrangement. We met at a prominent restaurant for a noon meal. When I arrived, I noticed the table was filled with two seats empty, one in…

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Should I ask my girlfriend to marry me when we tend to argue a lot?

Question: I have a question which you may know a little about. In my relationship with my girlfriend, we tend to argue a lot. She will say something and I will explode or vice versa. This has left me without peace and asking if this relationship is God’s will. I wanted to ask my girlfriend…

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What does becoming “one flesh” mean?

Question: What does this mean: ”For this reason a man shall leave his father and leave his mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh”? Answer: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). This…

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If a virgin marries a non-virgin, will he be condemned to hell?

Question: If a pure man marries a woman who he thinks is a pure woman (virgin), and he finds out later she wasn’t a virgin when they married, is he condemned to hell because it wasn’t a pure and holy marriage, even though he is a member of the true New Testament church? Answer: God…

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How do I stop treating my wife so badly?

Question: We’ve been together for nearly ten years and for the past several years I’ve been treating my wife very badly. I say bad things to her and we just don’t feel happy around each other anymore. She seems like she’s afraid of me. I still love her and I know I can’t live without…

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I found lots of useful material on marital relationships on your site

Question: I live in the Philippines and am a devout Catholic Christian. I am writing this to thank you for your web site. I accidentally found it. I was looking for an article or materials to be used in my presentation related to relationships specifically between a husband and wife. There is a lot of very useful…

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Doesn’t sex create a marriage?

Question: Hello, it’s me, the same girl who had sent you a message before asking about sex without marriage. I know God’s laws, and I know he made them in order to keep us safe and happy. The thing is, the person and I have already done it, we’ve had sex. Now Jesus said that when…

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Is it God’s will that I marry?

Question: I am planning on engaging my girlfriend, God willing, in a few months, though I haven’t told her obviously. But I have a nagging feeling in my heart. I don’t know whether it’s fear or what it is. So I prayed to God asking Him if it’s His will I marry this gal. I…

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What do I do? My boyfriend doesn’t want to get married and I do

Question: My boyfriend and I live together. We’ve been living together for two years. He doesn’t want to get married. I do. Also, I am Christian, he is agnostic. I have tried to talk to him about God, but he wants proof. I don’t know what to do. When we first got together, I was…

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So You Married the Wrong Person?

by Tanner Campbell The statements: “I don’t love you anymore,” and “I think I married the wrong person” we all recognize. They are commonly said at the end of a failed marriage. It is no secret that many marriages fail in the world and a number of them fail among members of the church. Did…

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Is it wrong for a Christian to marry a non-believer?

Question: In I Corinthians 7:12-14, it doesn’t mean a Christian marrying an unbeliever. You need to see the background and the circumstances Paul wrote this letter. Actually the problem in Corinth is that after marriage a husband or wife accepted Christ. Because of the desire to serve Christ, the believing wife or husband thought they…

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Can a married couple talk dirty during sex?

Question: Hi, I have read through a lot of your Answered Questions and wanted to throw one out at you. Do you think it’s improper for a married Christian couple to “talk dirty” during sex, using words and language they would ordinarily not use in daily conversation? (If no one else is around and the…

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Doesn’t a marriage license mean the government controls marriages?

Question: You said: “They imagine all sorts of nonsense regarding giving up rights, but the reality is that the government is serving as a repository of the covenant.” License is a prior restraint. It presumes that the activity is not a right but stems from the licensor (government in this case), is illegal otherwise and…

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The Key to Better Marriages

by Edwin L. Crozier via Gospel Power, Vol. 16, No. 34, August 23, 2009. One thing I have learned about the Bible and marriage is that some of the passages that will help us the most in our marriage were not written specifically about marriage. The passage that will help our marriages (and all other…

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Do you know someone who will marry us without a state marriage license?

Question: I would like to get married without the state’s license and with a preacher, of course. Could you please help me find a preacher that would marry in my state?  I would also like to obtain more information on this subject.  Could I get some more information on how to be married legally or…

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Is a child bride really married?

Question: Recently I was participating in a discussion with several Christians regarding biblical divorce. One of the group members brought up the marriage of young girls in Third World cultures, such as Afghanistan or Pakistan. From what we have read these girls are sold into marriage by their fathers or extended families. One instance made…

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Why is my husband so uncaring?

Question: I too am a wife who feels unloved.  My question is, why do men, who give so much loving attention to a woman when they are courting her, stop loving her in the same way as the years go on?  We have many children, and the youngest has severe cerebral palsy. When she was born, my…

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I kissed a married woman. Does that mean I can never marry in the future?

Question: I have committed a horrible sin. I am single and have never been married. I was baptized a long time ago. I recently passionately kissed a married woman. I knew she was married when this happened. Afterward, when I snapped out of it, I felt horrible. I contacted her the next day, explained that…

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It is getting hard not to have sex. I want to marry my boyfriend, but I don’t want to give up my independence. Can we get married so we can have sex, but still live apart?

Question: Didn’t people get married during or soon after puberty in Biblical times? It seems like it would be a lot easier to abstain from premarital sex if people were getting married as teenagers. In our society, people usually get married in their mid to late 20s, 10 or more years after sexual maturity. People…

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Even though we sinned, could this be the woman God wants me to marry?

Question: Hi! I was led to your site from confusion about the laws of lust. My girlfriend and I were confused about whether or not it’s still lust if we have those feelings and urges for each other and only each other. From the similar questions I’ve read, and the answers you provided, I’ve gotten…

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Scriptural Marriage, Traditional Customs, and Civil Laws

by Sunday Ayandare via Words of Life, Vol. 15, Nos. 2 and 3. April – Sept. 2007. [This has been adapted. It does not include the many customs and traditions practiced by the Nigerian people that Sunday had included in his writings. James W. Sasser] The subject of what constitutes Scriptural marriage has occasioned a…

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Doesn’t the Lord require Christians to marry Christians?

Question: You said in “What does a woman do when the Christian men around seem more interested in non-Christian women?” “While being married to a non-Christian often makes it more difficult for a Christian woman to remain faithful, there is no requirement that Christians — male or female — must only marry a Christian.” But…

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My marriage for a few months is a disaster. What should I do?

Question: Hi there. I got married several months ago. The night before my marriage was a complete disaster. My husband had too much to drink and he fought with me in front of other people. I felt humiliated but thought it was only wedding stress. Long story short, the wedding and the honeymoon were terrible…

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Can you explain levitate marriages?

Question: I need some help with marriage laws in the Old Testament, concerning the death of a brother. Under the Old Law, if a man’s brother died was he to take his dead brother’s wife as his own wife?  What if he (the man still alive) was already married?  What if the women (of the…

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