Marriage

Marriage

In many ways a second marriage is the highest compliment that the one who survives can pay the one who has gone before; for it means that without him or her life was so lonely as to be insupportable; it means that with him  or her the married state was so happy that it can fearlessly be entered into again. So far from being an act of disrespect it can be a mark of honour to the dead.

One condition Paul lays down—it must be a marriage in the Lord. That is, it must be a marriage between Christians . It is seldom that a mixed marriage can be successful. Long, long ago Plutarch laid it down, that “marriage cannot be happy unless husband and wife are of the same religion.” The highest love comes when two people love each other and their love is sanctified by a common love of Christ. For then they not only live together but also pray together; and life and love combine to be one continual act of worship to God.