Tamera Mowry Opens Up About Being Celibate & Not Shacking Up Before Marriage

Should couples live together before marriage? Should you even wait until marriage to have sex?

Celibacy and shacking is always a huge topic of discussion with varied points of views. Although some believe that a couple should live together and test the waters before taking the plunge, others believe you should not live together until after the vows. Several celebrities have shared their views over the years.

In Ebony Magazine Tamera Mowry Housley talked about why she's just as passionate about 'no sex before marriage' as actress Meagan Good (who began practicing celibacy and did not have sex with her hubby Devon Franklin until they were married). She revealed that she was abstinent before she got married to Fox News Anchor Adam Housley and she does not believe a couple should live together before marriage.

"We wanted to make sure that this relationship was what God wanted for our lives. [In order to know] if we are meant to be together, we said, ‘It’s got to be God’s way and not our way.’ We didn’t want to half-step anything [or have clouded judgment]. So our right way was the way we felt God wanted us to do it, which was being celibate. We said to God, ‘This is who we are, I know you take us as we are, our faults, our fears, our joys, our hope as a couple and have your way."

She also shared some words of advice about living together before marriage:

“[Living together] makes it harder for you. Have people around you to keep you accountable! Surround yourself with people who support your decision, because they’re only going to root you on. Make that covenant with God and with each other and just let go. God is going to see you through the difficult times. Whenever you’re feeling discouraged just pray together. Like I said, it’s not going to be a perfect journey, but you just have to keep God the center of your relationship.”

Back in 2010, before he married his Mrs., I did a Battle of The Sexes with actor Lance Gross and we had two different views, when it came to 'living together before marriage'. The conversation went a little like this:

Necole Bitchie:: I don’t know if I’d move in with a guy before the ring. It’s like “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”Lance Gross: I’m not going to put a ring on your finger until I live with you. I have to know you inside and out. So it’s not going to work if you got that mindset…
Necole Bitchie:: Lebron James lives with his kids’ mother and he once said, “If she’s living with me, she’s my wife” [but he hasn't bought the ring].
Lance Gross: You can definitely get it twisted. If she’s cooking for you, cleaning up after you and doing your laundry, that’s a role of the wife. It’s the woman’s job to hold out on certain things and save something for the marriage. You can give little hints of it but you can’t do it all because a man will get comfortable. Don’t take on the role of a wife unless you are married. As a man, why take the vows if you already got it?

What are your thoughts on couples living together before marriage and celibacy?