“I, ____, take you, ____, to be my (husband/wife). I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness, and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

A marriage can be born from a multitude of reasons. Physical attraction, financial stability, genuine respect for each other, or an arrangement by friends or family members are just a few of the possibilities.

Regardless of how your relationship comes together it stands no chance of survival without the two highlighted words from above, Truth and Honor.

There is an exclusivity that comes with marriage, a feeling that you have entered a partnership with someone, a partnership where you promise to be by that persons side, sharing memories, life experiences, and daily events.

What separates us from animals is that we need emotional connections, especially women. Without these connections to people there is an “emotional nakedness”, a feeling of loneliness that most fear experiencing. Marriage is supposed to fill that void with one another.

Historically men, due to the fact that they were the bread winners, would establish these emotional connections with perhaps a secretary, co-worker, or even someone at the gym. With the liberation of women being the traditional house wife/caretaker, there has consequently been a rise in women seeking emotional relationships outside of the home as well.

Studies have shown that marriages have better than a 40% chance of surviving when the infidelity is purely sexual and lacks emotion. Although it may take years to repair the damages (rage, loss of trust) caused by a spouse having a sexual encounter outside of the marriage, an emotional connection outside of the relationship may have far more significance and long lasting effects.

So before you get too close and share too much with someone, you must remember the vows you made to each other and be honorable to your partner, and to the very foundation of the emotional intimacy and exclusivity of a marriage.