Rabbi Shmuley Boteach answers a question on whether 20 is too young to get married. He says that while everyone is different and maturity is an individual matter in general marrying young is better. He gives five reasons for why marrying young is good. (I’m summarizing with the bullet points here:
1. Marrying young means you grow up together. ...
2. Marrying young means avoiding the ten or so years that most people waste dating. ...
3. Marrying young means avoiding the multiple sexual partners that most singles have. ...
4. Marrying young means avoiding loneliness. ...
5. Marrying young means having children earlier, and not becoming a parent when you should already be a grand-parent. ...
Granted I didn’t meet the love of my life until I was in my mid-30s, but had I met Melanie at 20, knowing what I know now, I could have avoided years of loneliness and heartbreak and my own daughter would be 17 years old now and we could have had all the other children we hope to have. I think too many people put off marriage and family under the misguided impression that they need to make all kinds of money first or have all kinds of experience first and that your life ends when you get married and have kids.
Oh man, I want to tell those people that life’s adventure is only just beginning when you marry. Stop getting your idea of what marriage is from TV and movies and the failed marriages of the generation before you. It’s so much better than the horror stories people tell you to make themselves look like martyrs.
And guys? Some of the most amazing women out there are not interested in “hooking up” with you. They’re waiting for you to get your head on straight and get serious. They’re looking for men to marry and commit to them. And don’t miss this fact: A good wife is better than anything else you’ll ever find in your single life. That’s from the Bible, guys. All you married men, back me up here!
The most underestimated problem of the vocations crisis is that we also have a crisis in marriage. If we had more Catholics marrying and not putting off their families, we’d have more priests. I’ll state that as a fact.
