Today the world is seeing a new era where marriage is no longer considered necessary or even significant for a relationship.

However, marriage is an institution that allows two people to establish a very strong and enduring relationship that is fully backed by the law as a whole.

What comes with marriage is more than a set future with one person for the rest of your life; it is one of the greatest gains in life.

Marriage has become less important in the eyes of society. According to Forest Institute of Professional Psychology, 50 percent of first marriages in America end in divorce, 67 percent of second marriages end in divorce and 74 percent of third marriages end in divorce. What has happened to the importance of marriage?

Leon Allen, 72 and Lois Allen 65 have been married for fifty years. Together they agreed it’s not trying to gain the longest time to be married but it is the gain of the one person that is awarding.

“She was fifteen, but back then age didn’t matter.” Leon said. “We got married with no intentions of divorce; always going to be each other’s one and only.”

Marriage defines itself as a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. At the institution of marriage, there was no provision for divorce.

For 22 year-old Fresno City College Student, Adriel Wires, “Marriage is like a circle that is between you and your significant other; there is no dividing line between each other.” He said, “You become one.”

Two people become one when in matrimony. Genesis 2:18, 21-24 in the New International Version of the Bible explains that God made a companion suitable for man so that he will not be alone.

God did this by making woman from the rib of man and when she was brought to the man he said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”

Besides love and companionship, there are many benefits to marriage. Whether or not you favor marriage as a social institution, there’s no denying that it confers many rights, protections, and benefits-both legal and practical.

According to Marriage Rights and Benefits, the list typically includes Tax Benefits, Estate Planning, Government Benefits, Employment Benefits, Medical Benefits, Family Benefits, Housing Benefits, and Consumer Benefits.

To further clarify each on the list, tax benefits come when filling joint income tax returns with the IRS and state taxing authority.

Estate planning benefits is the inheriting of a share of your spouse’s estate, receiving an exemption from both estate taxes and gift taxes for all property you give or leave to your spouse.

Receiving social security, Medicare and disability for spouses, receiving veterans and military benefits for spouses, such as those for education, medical care or special loans falls under government benefits.

With employment benefits one obtains insurance benefits through a spouse’s employer and also taking family leave to care for your spouse during an illness.

Medical benefits give you the right of visiting your spouse in a hospital intensive care unit or during restricted visiting hours in other parts of a medical facility.

The family benefits allow filing for stepparent or joint adoption and applying for joint foster care rights.

Living in neighborhoods zoned for families’ only and automatically renewing leases signed by your spouse is known as the housing benefits.

Consumer benefits allow receiving family rates for health, homeowners’, auto, and other types of insurance, receiving tuition discounts and permission to use school facilities.

When you make a sacrifice in marriage, you’re sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship.

Marriage is supposed to tie two individuals together and strengthen their relationship. The more you invest in a marriage, the more valuable it becomes.