[BRL]

I think that people enter into marriage and have to decide whether they view the marriage as a vehicle to be responsible and serve their children or spouse or whether they view marriage as a vehicle to have someone else take over their responsibilities. When both parties are committed to doing their obligations and are interested in the well being of the other then it usually works well. When one or both view marriage as a vehicle for their own happiness it usually is going to be in trouble.

Sometimes people can be committed to helping each other but are not exactly competent. This can be a problem too.

Spirituality comes in , becasue people that go to church tend to spend at least a little time in self inspection. They are open to the fact that there might be issues in their life that need correcting. So people that go to church and are spiritual tend to also be more reponsible.

In summary, marriage needs both people to be committed to the interests of others in the family, marriage needs competence, and these things generally don't happen without spirituality.

[KentuckyWoman]

In summary, marriage needs both people to be committed to the interests of others in the family, marriage needs competence, and these things generally don't happen without spirituality.

You are, of course, absolutly correct in your observations. If God (IMO) is not the REAL head of the household (from BOTH spouses POV), then the relationship is probably doomed. Only one spouse believing and trying to do right to maintain the "marriage" will usually fail.