Dear Pastor,

Age doesn't have anything to do with what a couple decides to do. If two people are in love, they need not worry about their ages. A person can be married at age 16 and that marriage can last forever. Two 70-year-old persons can get married and in two days the marriage is destroyed. Marriage is not an age factor.

It is who you are and how you decide to live. When you are genuinely in love, that is what matters. A couple can always work on their problems and accept each other for who they are.

Lover

Dear Lover,

The rate of divorce is very high, and I must admit, I have encouraged young people to pursue a good education before getting married. However, there have been some successful marriages of young people but the divorce rate is still very high among young people. Some young people insist that they wish to get married because getting married before living together is maintaining the high standard of what marriage ought to be. They insist that God ordained the institution and it is through marriage the family is established and children are born.

When couples are in their senior years, and they get married for the first time; or remarry because they were divorced, or their husbands or wives have died, that does not guarantee that they will have a successful marriage. Although some people do not want to accept that marriage is a contract, it is. That is why a document is signed on the day of the marriage in the presence of two witnesses.

I disagree with you. Age should be taken into consideration. If a person is old and not in good health, that should be taken into consideration. A young person who marries a man/woman who is old and is in bad health may find themselves restricted and he/she might be tempted to leave him or cheat. The only thing that might keep him/her is if the spouse has lots of money and he/she is in control of it.

Some young women have stayed with older men because the men treat them very well and these women genuinely love them. Some young men can only give them sex but they have nothing in their pockets. I have said enough.

Pastor