At the heart of sex is a sense of ownership. When you have sex with someone, you give them a little piece of yourself that they will forever own. But here’s the catch: You only have so many pieces to give away in this fashion, before you grow numb to the process; the pieces stop feeling as important. And when you get married, you will give whatever pieces you have left.

Waiting till marriage means that you do not dilute this piece of yourself by giving it to a lot of people. You give it to one person; the person that earns your heart along with it. And for this they will forever own you, all of your pieces, in total. This is not just some symbolic fantasy — you will feel owned by them in the same way that they will feel owned by you (if they waited too).

Plus, you’ve spent your whole life living under the notion that there is one person out there who will complete you more than any other. Most people, waiting or not, have this notion. But you spent your whole life backing it up with action (i.e., not having sex until you found him/her).

That deeper bond and heightened sense of mutual ownership that your waiting-till-marriage earned you will work in your favor. It will keep you both gravitating back towards each other. It will make you feel more like one person, which is a much harder thing to split.