Is it Okay to be Old-Fashioned?

I'm old-fashioned. And that's fine with me. I enjoy many of the technological advances of recent years, but I don't enjoy the new standards in our society. Am I perfect? No. Absolutely not, but I can see and recognize my faults and sins and constantly work to eliminate them. Do I have all the answers? I don't. But I know Someone Who does. Most of those answers are in the Old Testament of the Bible. 

Yes, the New Testament is a new covenant. And it tells us that Jesus came to die for our sins and offer forgiveness for those sins. That doesn't give us license to sin. Throughout Christ's time on earth, He referred His followers back to the Old Testament for direction. Over and over again. In other words, though He was the "Way, the Truth and the Life", the Old Testament wasn't negated and abandoned by His birth, nor would it be by His death.

Children need fathers. They need them in their lives on a day-to-day basis. They need fathers in addition to daddies. Daddies are good-time guys who may or may not display responsibility. Women need husbands they know will be there for them and their children day in and day out. 

Somewhere along the way, we have abandoned marriage as old-fashioned and unnecessary. We have abandoned the ideal of sex within the sanctity of marriage and there only. 

When sex is between two people and only those people ever, it is incredibly special because it has never been shared with anyone else. When it is utilized as the definition of a "date" and shared with everyone a person knows, it becomes flat and meaningless.

Marriage is not based on sex. Sex needs to be based on marriage. You see, in a marriage, there are many other aspects to the relationship. There are jobs, finances, laundry, house-cleaning, never-ending meal preparation, yard work and perhaps, children. If all a couple have ever experienced together is sex, they will have no idea how to handle the day-to-day pressures of marriage. And there are pressures. As I've said before, I know my husband gets up every day and chooses to love me - whether I'm lovable or not. That doesn't give me an excuse not to attempt to be lovable every day, but at least I now that when I fall short, he won't race out the door. 

Marriage is a covenant between two people. Most of the traditions in a wedding ceremony mirror those elements in a covenant ceremony in the Old Testament. A covenant is binding for life. 

Where did we go wrong? I believe a lot of our downfall is centered in Hollywood. An extremely different set of values and attitudes have emerged and because of the fame of those involved, been accepted as not only "okay" but also "normal". They're not normal, and those in Hollywood who have adhered to the old-fashioned values are slighted and labeled as "odd". 

My challenge is to see the bigger picture. A 50% divorce rate is not normal. The highest number of unwed mothers in history is not normal. I fault my own generation with taking the first and largest plunge into this amoral canyon, but I challenge the younger generation to climb out of the abyss and seek the high road. You can do it! I believe in you.