Strengthening and preserving the institution of marriage is everyone’s business. Of course, Christians have a special understanding and appreciation for this foundational institution. We know God is the author of marriage. Adam needed a helper “meet” or “fit” for him. God gave him just that in Eve.

God also intended society to be built upon the family as He designed it—one man and one woman for a lifetime and any children who may be born to or adopted into this family. Strong, loving marriages are God’s plan. Because God designed us this way, societies run best when they follow God’s plan for marriage and family. The stronger the marriages, the stronger the families, and thus the stronger a society will be. And the converse is true as well.

As in virtually every other area of life, Christians are not the only ones who reap the benefits of following God’s principles—or reap the chaos and devastation when they don’t. Certainly the institution of marriage follows this pattern. Societies know they require children for their perpetuation. Because even non-Christians know children need mothers and fathers to be brought up optimally, marriage has arisen in virtually every society throughout history, whether or not the society is based on Christian principles. Secular anthropologists confirm this. Whether or not everyone acknowledges the Creator of this societal structure, they understand that marriage is the foundation of society and that strong marriages produce a strong society. For that reason, strengthening marriage culture-wide should be everyone’s business.

The importance of marriage to society is vividly seen when the institution of marriage and individual marriages begin to break down throughout a society. Research continues to show that children in single-parent homes are much more likely to become involved in crime, experience academic troubles and emotional or behavioral problems. According to the Cato Institute, “Nearly 70 percent of juveniles in state reform institutions come from fatherless homes, as do 43 percent of prison inmates.” Poverty also plagues single-parent homes. In fact, the poverty rate of single-parent families is twenty-seven percent higher than among married couples. On average, divorce causes a child’s standard of living to drop by about one-third. These statistics are society-wide, irrespective of a family being Christian or not—and as we know all too well, all of society feels the consequences of such breakdown.

Wisconsin Family Council is all about strengthening and preserving marriage and family in our state. We know this starts with our Christian churches, and we know it also goes into the entire society of both Christian and non-Christians. To help us reach all segments of society with a marriage-strengthening message, we have partnered with Foundation for a Great Marriage, a state organization dedicated exclusively to strengthening individual marriages and the institution of marriage statewide. We recently worked with Foundation for a Great Marriage to kick off a “Think Marriage” campaign by mailing to nearly 90,000 Wisconsin households a “Marriage Myth-Buster Guide.” This 14-page publication busts 5 common marriage myths to smithereens, based on solid social-science research—research that continues to show that God’s plan for marriage and family is the very best plan for all of us. The challenge is for each of us to become, as the guide says, a Marriage Champion!

The “Marriage Myth-Buster Guides” are especially useful because they can be used with so many audiences. Wisconsin Family Council has already received numerous requests from pastors who want to use it in their churches, public-school teachers who want to use it in their classrooms, and just last week we had an individual contact us about using it in a crisis pregnancy center. These myth-buster guides are also perfect for the lobbies of doctors, dentists, or lawyers; Christian or secular bookstores, the lunchrooms of factories and business centers; or the newsstands of gas stations, restaurants, and coffeehouses.

Christians know that strong marriages are important because they understand that God created them for His glory and our good, but society as a whole understands they are important because it is witnessing what happens when the institution of marriage is weak and individual marriages are breaking up in unprecedented numbers. We all live in the same sinful world that has made marriage difficult, and so it should be everyone’s business to strengthen this important and divine institution, both in the church and in the culture.

To get copies of this “Marriage Myth-Buster Guide,” simply call Wisconsin Family Council toll-free at 888-378-7395—that’s 888-378-7395. Become a Marriage Champion today!

For Wisconsin Family Council, I’m Julaine Appling reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”