Friday, March 7, 2008
Quote of the Day
Forwarded from my dad, by a colleague of his
One of God’s main purposes in ordaining marriage and the home is not primarily for pleasure, as is ordinarily supposed, but to decentralize the self, to teach agape love. The stresses of marriage and the home are designed to produce brokenness, to wean one from self centeredness, and to produce the graces of sacrificial love and gentleness. Because so few people understand the nature and purpose of marriage, when unexpected stresses and strains develop they are tempted to feel they have made a mistake and perhaps have married the wrong person……If the couple can comprehend that neither life nor marriage is made primarily for pleasure, but for learning sacrificial love, they may not waste their sorrows. (Paul Billheimer, Don’t Waste Your Sorrows)
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2 comments:
I'd question that statement. Although self-sacrifice must obviously be a part of one's marriage and family life, I don't see why it's main purpose (or any purpose at all) is to teach people how to be that way. I've even heard arguments that those who haven't learned yet how to make sacrifices for others shouldn't marry at all. They're not mature enough!
Billheimer's correct about the importance of learning selflessness in family life. However, what's the Biblical support for it being a "main purpose"? From the Bible, people historically have pulled out a number of "purposes" of marriage: companionship, childbearing, financial support, physical protection, and sexual gratification. How is "teaching selflessness" thrown in there? Isn't expressing selflessness something everyone's supposed to practice regardless of family circumstances?
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