When you cohabit, it simply means you are having a sexual relationship with the person you are living with, even though you are not legally married. You are basically living like you are married. From a religious perspective, sex before marriage is not encouraged of course, but it’s no secret that many couples are cohabiting. So, putting the religious views aside; could cohabiting actually be a good thing?
In my opinion, I believe cohabiting is good to a small extent. I am one of those people who wish not to divorce at any point in my life. So before I agree in front of God, parents, relatives and friends that I will stick with this man ‘till death do us part’; I would love to have a feel of what to expect.
When you are dating someone but not staying with them, there are certain traits you can miss. Most of us aim at impressing our partners during this stage. Before they come to see you, they will shower, put on clean clothes and wear a nice perfume. If you are going over to their place, they will clean up; prepare you a nice meal among other things. During those days when they are stressed, they might pretend and hide it from you. But what happens when they let their guard down and start getting comfortable with you? Can you handle their true selves? Can you live with that?
How is their true hygiene in terms of body, clothes and habitation? What are their weaknesses and strengths in different areas of their life? Yes, people change depending on experiences they go through, but if you had a chance to discover some of these ‘default traits’ before you make lifetime vows, why not use that chance? It doesn’t mean you will fully understand this person, but, atleast you get an idea on how life would be with them.
To a larger extent though, cohabiting is not good; especially if you are resorting to it only for convenience. If you just want to get someone to wash your clothes, cook for you meals, share costs with, get easy access to sex; it is a deadly trap!
So I would say if you are sure and have made up your mind that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, give it a shot. Live with them for a while and do your “SWOT” analysis. If it’s just for convenience, DON’T move in with them.
