“Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.” – Proverbs 18:22…Today’s blog entry deals with preparing for marriage (This is part one of a two part series).
When thinking of marriage there can sometimes be a tendency to focus on what a person should be looking for in a potential spouse. It’s definitely important to have an understanding of what a person should be looking for in a spouse, and I will deal with that in part two of this blog series (which will be posted next week). However in today’s blog entry, I’m focusing on some things that a person can do in their own life, that will help them be a better spouse to the person they marry.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” – Psalm 37:23
Have you ever been watching a football game and saw a quarterback throw an incomplete pass to a receiver that was way off, and didn’t even look catchable? If you have witnessed something like this, you may have thought to yourself, “What was that quarterback thinking throwing the ball over there, the receiver was going the other way.” Now imagine if you saw something like that happen in a game, and later found out the quarterback called a certain play and the receiver was supposed to run 10 yards and then turn to the left, but instead of turning to left, he turned to the right because he hadn’t paid attention to the play that was called. So the quarterback had actually thrown the ball to where the receiver should have been, but because the receiver got off of the course he was supposed to be on, he didn’t catch the ball.
In our walk with God, it’s important that we obey Him, and stay on the course that He has us on. We should seek Him about His will for our lives and use the Bible as our guide. By doing this we can be in a position to receive the things He has for us. A person shouldn’t just run out and jump in a relationship. They should seek God to find out if it’s His will for them to be in a relationship. Even if a person has met their future spouse, it may not always mean that they should begin a relationship at that exact time. There may need to be growth/maturing with both parties, and beginning a relationship prematurely could actually ruin the friendship and lead to them not wanting to deal with each other anymore.
“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.” – Mark 10:7-8
In a marriage, the husband and wife should be working together. The husband should be willing to make sacrifices for his wife, and the wife should be willing to make sacrifices for her husband. If a person always has to have things go their way in order for them to be happy, they should definitely work on making a change in that area before getting married.
If someone has been in previous relationships that didn’t work out, they should learn from the mistakes that were made, however they shouldn’t bring in baggage from the past relationship into their marriage. In other words don’t penalize the new person for the bad things that the previous person you dated did. Never assume negative things such as “all of my Ex’s did this, so I know they are going to do this too.” Also don’t let negative stereotypes that society has about males/females cause you to think that your spouse will automatically fall into that category. If you have been hurt in a past relationship, pray and ask God help you overcome the pain you’re feeling. Give yourself time to grow. Don’t try to force another relationship, wait and do things God’s way.
A person preparing for marriage should also make sure that they are managing their money well (This is important even if a person doesn’t plan to get married). It’s good to develop good spending/budgeting habits as soon as possible. When a person is married, their spending affects both them and their spouse.
So if you feel that the Lord is preparing you for marriage, make sure that you follow His lead, and doing things in His timing.
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
I will continue with part two of the Preparing For Marriage series in next week’s blog post.
When thinking of marriage there can sometimes be a tendency to focus on what a person should be looking for in a potential spouse. It’s definitely important to have an understanding of what a person should be looking for in a spouse, and I will deal with that in part two of this blog series (which will be posted next week). However in today’s blog entry, I’m focusing on some things that a person can do in their own life, that will help them be a better spouse to the person they marry.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” – Psalm 37:23
Have you ever been watching a football game and saw a quarterback throw an incomplete pass to a receiver that was way off, and didn’t even look catchable? If you have witnessed something like this, you may have thought to yourself, “What was that quarterback thinking throwing the ball over there, the receiver was going the other way.” Now imagine if you saw something like that happen in a game, and later found out the quarterback called a certain play and the receiver was supposed to run 10 yards and then turn to the left, but instead of turning to left, he turned to the right because he hadn’t paid attention to the play that was called. So the quarterback had actually thrown the ball to where the receiver should have been, but because the receiver got off of the course he was supposed to be on, he didn’t catch the ball.
In our walk with God, it’s important that we obey Him, and stay on the course that He has us on. We should seek Him about His will for our lives and use the Bible as our guide. By doing this we can be in a position to receive the things He has for us. A person shouldn’t just run out and jump in a relationship. They should seek God to find out if it’s His will for them to be in a relationship. Even if a person has met their future spouse, it may not always mean that they should begin a relationship at that exact time. There may need to be growth/maturing with both parties, and beginning a relationship prematurely could actually ruin the friendship and lead to them not wanting to deal with each other anymore.
“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.” – Mark 10:7-8
In a marriage, the husband and wife should be working together. The husband should be willing to make sacrifices for his wife, and the wife should be willing to make sacrifices for her husband. If a person always has to have things go their way in order for them to be happy, they should definitely work on making a change in that area before getting married.
If someone has been in previous relationships that didn’t work out, they should learn from the mistakes that were made, however they shouldn’t bring in baggage from the past relationship into their marriage. In other words don’t penalize the new person for the bad things that the previous person you dated did. Never assume negative things such as “all of my Ex’s did this, so I know they are going to do this too.” Also don’t let negative stereotypes that society has about males/females cause you to think that your spouse will automatically fall into that category. If you have been hurt in a past relationship, pray and ask God help you overcome the pain you’re feeling. Give yourself time to grow. Don’t try to force another relationship, wait and do things God’s way.
A person preparing for marriage should also make sure that they are managing their money well (This is important even if a person doesn’t plan to get married). It’s good to develop good spending/budgeting habits as soon as possible. When a person is married, their spending affects both them and their spouse.
So if you feel that the Lord is preparing you for marriage, make sure that you follow His lead, and doing things in His timing.
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
I will continue with part two of the Preparing For Marriage series in next week’s blog post.