It said: "With the increase in the divorce rate, the increase in the age at which people first get married and with our increasing longevity, the experience of being single is now one of the most widely shared experiences of adulthood." So says Bella DePaulo, visiting professor of psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Nearly 10 percent of Americans live by themselves. If you add those who are cohabiting, whether in college dorms or elsewhere, the ranks of the singles swell even more: from 38 million in 1970 to 82 million in 2000. Singles constitute about 40 percent of the U.S. adult population.

In Genesis 2:18 God makes it clear that "it is not good for the man to be alone." This is the wisdom of our Creator, who knows us better than we know ourselves. So the lonesome Adam woke up from a deep sleep to find Eve standing by his side. God joined them together in marriage and thus set the divinely intended social pattern for humanity.

The tragic fruits of not heeding our Creator's advice are apparent all around us. Suzanne Fields, columnist for The Washington Times, recently reviewed a book called The Broken Hearth by William Bennett. She summed up an aspect of his worrying assessment of our social plight today: "Those who do not marry are having sexual relations at an earlier age, and contracting sexually transmitted diseases at much higher rates, cohabiting in unprecedented numbers, and having a record number of children out of wedlock."

Of course, not everyone needs to marry to live a happy and moral life. Undoubtedly single life will work out better for a relatively small minority. But, if men and women follow God's laws, marriage is by far the best option for most people if they want reasonable health, happiness and a longer life. To learn more, please request our free booklet Making Life Work. (Sources: USA Today, The Washington Times.)