How important is marriage?

There was an intriguing article on USAToday.com addressing the issue of a federally funded ad campaign to promote the value of marriage in our society. Looking past the dominant theme of where out tax dollars go, I tried to soak up how the topic of marriage was being handled by the author. She claims that recent preliminary studies show that about 30% less people per 1,000 are getting married now than in 1986. This is surely a result of the “test drive” mentality of marriage which has developed in the last 50 years or so into living together as a prerequisite to marriage itself. As a Christian it is sad every time I hear more news about failing marriages in our country, but if anything it does encourage me all the more to be a more Christ-like leader and lover to my family with the expectation that someday marriage will be perfected when the ultimate Groom will come for His bride and set all things right.