Love vs. Marriage
People have lots of definitions when it comes to love and marriage. Unlike marriage, love is the most subjective of them all. Its definition can vary depending on the person, and can change across different countries, cultures or religions.
Basically, love is pure emotion. It is also a feeling at the same time. To concretely define love, is almost impossible, but most people can regard it as the sum of all feelings, emotions and experiences that show a deep or strong sense of affection towards something or someone, may it be an individual or a group of individuals. It is clearly more than friendship, for it is an enduring experience of want and care towards somebody else.
When you are in love, you are not obligated to undergo marriage, for it is a choice and not a requirement, although, most societies end (or actually begin) love with marriage. However, it is also important to note that not all marriages end up as a result of love, as in the case of fixed marriages. Even if love is one of the primary factors to be considered in a marriage, there are still a few couples who get married even without love.
On the other hand, marriage is more of a civil status. It is the event in which a couple officially becomes married. This activity gives more meaning to love, and dictates a lasting commitment or contract between the two parties. Marriage is practically dependent on culture, and it is usually a union between a man and a woman, although not physically.
In the Roman Catholic belief system, it is the ‘tying of the knot’ between partners composed of the opposite sexes, although, some countries nowadays allow same sex marriages (homosexual marriages). They are joined together, not by the power of man, but by the power of God. Jokingly said, it also bears some truth to say that sex is legal in marriage, because it is almost always illegal, or perhaps immoral in most religions, if it is performed before marriage (hence the term fornication).
Love has different levels. Romantic love is the love that you can often see, or experience, between partners like a husband and wife. This love is more intense and passionate, and is more or less sexual in nature. Love can also be filial, and be more in-tune to the family. It can also be a religious type of love, like the love for God and the like. The highest level, or form of love, is said to be termed as agape.
1. Love is a feeling or an emotion, whereas marriage is more of a ceremonial event to formalize a change in one’s civil status from being single to being married.
2. Marriage is more equated to commitments, whereas love doesn’t necessarily have any, unless it is the romantic type of love.