- Individuals who enter into
same-sex relationships have no agreed-upon model for dealing
with one another. The perception is that one person's idea
of the ideal relationship is as valid as any other's.
- Husbands and wives, in contrast,
bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to bear on
identifying the ideal relationship. Couples rarely enter
into marriage with no idea of what the ideal marriage
looks like. Those who have been nurtured in traditional
families and witnessed a loving, responsible, and self-sacrificing
father and mother possess a concrete view of the ideal
marriage. Although they will not relive the lives of
their parents, they have a model on which they can ground
their own relationship. Those who grew up in dysfunctional
families are not as fortunate, but they are also not
without hope. Although they will often sail through
uncharted waters, they can at least stay in the boat
by drawing on traditional and scriptural models of the
ideal family; and they can see the many living
models that abound, by receiving instruction from and
witnessing the lives of individuals in their community
of faith, and even outside, who have succeeded.
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