Are you sexually compatible with your future mate? How important is sexual compatibility for your marriage and does it make a difference? Will it help you to have a truly happy marriage? The wisdom of today proclaims that couples must live together before marriage and have a good sexual relationship before tying the knot. After all, you do not want to be with someone you are not sexually compatible with, do you?
This desire may be sincere, but here is the reality. This kind of thought process and discernment will actually have the opposite effect and kill your future marriage. The following real life conversation I had with a young lady reveals why.
Me: I’m a Catholic Speaker who also speaks on love and relationships. I travel around talking to people about how to find true love and happily-ever-after. I also address many potholes that prevent them from finding love. I talk about dating, engagement, sex, marriage, and many pro-tips people are never taught.
Woman: I’m actually a Catholic too, and I believe it is important to have sex before marriage! After all, would you want to marry someone whom you have not slept with? I wouldn’t for sure. I mean, how do you know if you are good for each other or not? How do you know if you’re compatible?
Me: So, what I am hearing is that people are like cars. One must test drive a person beforehand to see if they are compatible, to see if they are the right one to buy. If not, you return them just as you would any product that doesn’t perform to your liking.
Her: Well. Hmm. OK. When you put it that way… I have never thought of it like that before.
Me: Here’s my problem with that line of thinking. People are not cars. They have feelings, hopes, dreams, and cannot be treated like dead objects to dispose of at our will. When food doesn’t please us, we throw it away. When a song doesn’t please us, we change the station. When a car doesn’t perform, we test-drive another. That’s such a poor way to treat actual living-breathing human beings.
I also find it may be helpful to think about it this way. The majority of all marriages are not sexual. Perhaps close to 99% of a marriage is not sexual. So, even if you have sex every day of your life, that only accounts for a fraction of what makes up the marriage. So, in other words, sexual compatibility is not what you should be basing your future spouse on. It’s all of the other things in a relationship and in a marriage that are far more important.
For example, are the two of you compatible in your beliefs, morals, and values? This is one of the top reasons for failed marriages. Failure to properly communicate, not sexual incompatibility, is always a top reason for divorce. (http://divorcehelp360.com/top-five-reasons-couples-divorce/) Also, it’s far more beneficial for compatibility and a happy marriage to find someone you can trust, who has the ability to sacrifice when times get tough, who is always faithful, who puts you and the family before their own selfish needs, someone who is hardworking and virtuous, and doesn’t have destructive personality traits. Being best friends is far more important than being good sexual partners, and so on
All of these things are far more important than a sexual relationship, for these are the qualities needed for a lasting and happy marriage. People who focus on the sexual relationship usually miss all of these non-negotiable items.
Her: I see what you mean. That actually makes a lot of sense! [She thinks about about it quietly for a minute. Then, she seems to get a new thought.) So, do you believe sex is important in marriage?
Me: Absolutely! But love is the most important thing in a marriage. And sex is not love. Sex in marriage is the expression of a deep love that is already there (or should already be there). It’s the visible sign of love between two spouses which is why sex before marriage is a lie. When you get married, you look your spouse in the eyes, and before God, you verbally promise to give your whole self to him forever in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, until death. Then, each and every time you have sex with your spouse, you renew that promise of love made on the altar, not with words, but with your bodies. Your body speaks the language, the unspoken language of unconditional love. So, sex is not just for kicks, it’s sacred intimacy.
Here’s the bottom line: if you truly love a person, you would marry that person no matter what the sex life will be like. Love is love independent of sex. And if your sex life isn’t so good in the beginning, well… you have the rest of your lives together to develop a beautiful, wonderful, and fulfilling sex life together based on love, not utility. If your relationship is based on love, then the person will mean the world to you no matter what. It’s only a lack of love that treats other people like objects, reduces them merely to their sexuality, and disposes of them if and when they cease to please.
Her: [Kind of blown away at this new understanding] Wow! That is a whole different way of looking at it, and it makes a ton of sense. I find it much more beautiful! I can’t wait to share this with my boyfriend.
Me: Awesome! I’ll say a prayer for you! (smile) Bye.
End conversation.
There is much more that could be said about this and the beauty of love and relationship, along with the many reasons so many marriages and relationships fail today. Strive for love! Real love. Not the counterfeit. Visit our YouTube channel and our Love and Relationships folder, which has all sorts of practical advice on dating, engagement, and marriage.
