Sheesh, a judgemental topic if I ever saw one. (And trust me people, God isn't judging through your mouth, YOU are!)
I underwent a 3-month trial period living with my then-fiancee in an apartment, because we both wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing by getting married, and that we would coexist well under the same roof. The experiment was a success, and we took that final step. It had nothing to do with just having a place to screw all the time, it was about being responsible and making sure we were both ready for the final committment, or if we should just stay dating for a while.
I guess that makes us mortal sinners. *shrug* Whatever..
You are free to do whatever you want but God does advise His believers to avoid the appearance of evil. I would not live with a man because first of all that's supposed to be the privilege of being married. Also, if I am a practicing christian how is that to be explained to unbelievers? This is not a judgemental topic. It's a very valid one in this age of disappearing traditional man-woman family.
I underwent a 3-month trial period living with my then-fiancee in an apartment, because we both wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing by getting married, and that we would coexist well under the same roof. The experiment was a success, and we took that final step. It had nothing to do with just having a place to screw all the time, it was about being responsible and making sure we were both ready for the final committment, or if we should just stay dating for a while.
In my value system yes...you should have stayed dating. What would have happened if something came up that you didnt like, or that she didnt like, just toss the relationship over? Marriage is about making it work not playing house.
I underwent a 3-month trial period living with my then-fiancee in an apartment, because we both wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing by getting married, and that we would coexist well under the same roof. The experiment was a success, and we took that final step. It had nothing to do with just having a place to screw all the time, it was about being responsible and making sure we were both ready for the final committment, or if we should just stay dating for a while.
I guess that makes us mortal sinners. *shrug* Whatever..
My wife and I moved in approximately 5 months before we got married -- we were already engaged.
We would spend Sundays just checking out open houses -- we intended to buy a house after getting married. But there was literally nothing we could afford that was acceptable. One house we looked at, for instance, was ok, except that the second floor was only four feet tall (like that Geico commercial). Another had no bathroom upstairs, one had a ladder, not a staircase, going upstairs. And this was in 2002, and all the houses cost over half a million bucks. It was Greenwich, CT. One house had the only bathroom off the dining room. Must have been great at a dinner party.
Anyway, we did see a house we liked, and while it was close to the highway, it was barely in our price range, and it gave us reassurance that there'd be something out there. Every house we looked at we compared to this particular house, which while it had some flaws, we could transform it into something nice (it was occupied by a single dad and the three teenage sons). Anyway, about two months later, this house reappeared on the market: the original buyer's mortgage fell through. I had set up various auto email filters to email me when new houses were listed, and this one came on the market on a weekday. My fiancee and I decided, just on a whim, to make a lowball offer.
Well, the guy accepted -- he now was the proud owner of two houses. So we got an acceptable house a few months before making our marriage official, but we had dated for two years at that point. So I didn't think I was committing some huge moral sin or anything.
Yeah, my parents were upset, but then they were able to buy their first house for $12,000 or some damned thing, and while there's been inflation, it's not been that high.
We sold our first house just over two years after living there. Our profit on the house was over $10,000 per month for every month we lived there, and of course that $250K was also totally tax-free. So, no, I don't have any major regrets. Of course, it's totally different than renting a place with some girl I'd known for three months.