What a Single Guy Taught Me About Marriage
By Bethany Baird
I was hanging out with a group of my Christian friends when the conversation turned to dating and marriage. We went around in a circle and shared our thoughts, answering questions like:
Do we plan to date or court?
How do we know when we’re ready for marriage?
Is there a way to maximize these single years to prepare for marriage?
One of my single guy friends shared something that inspired me. He shared that he’s trying to be intentional about preparing for marriage during his single years. Specifically, he desires to be honest about his weaknesses so that he can work on them in order to be a greater blessing to his future wife and family.
Have you ever thought of that? Working on your weaknesses now in order to bless your future husband and children? Mind blown!
Specifically, my friend is being intentional in the areas of directions and dancing.
Learning to Follow Directions
My friend shared that he is really bad at directions and wants to improve so that he can lead his family well. He doesn’t want his wife to have to worry every time they get in the car to go somewhere. He wants her to be able to easily count on him in that area. Instead of waiting until he’s married, he’s working hard to improve now.
Learning to Dance
My friend also started taking swing dance lessons so that he will be able to dance with his wife in the future. He knows that most girls enjoy dancing, and he wants to be prepared to bless his wife in that way. He figures why wait until he gets there to be prepared. He might as well get a head start while he has the time.
What stood out to me about my friend’s approach was the fact that he is striving to bless and serve his future wife even before he knows her. He is intentionally preparing now for what the future might hold.
He’s trying to live out Proverbs 31:12: “She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.” (He’s just doing it guy-style.)
Don’t Just Dream About Your Future
We like to dream about our futures, don’t we? We think about love, romance, and marriage. We hope and pray that God has a husband in the plan for our lives. We live expectantly waiting for the day when we will finally meet and marry our true love.
Unfortunately, many of us are not intentional about preparing for that season. We aren’t honest about our weaknesses, much less working hard to improve in those areas. Instead of preparing, we spend all of our time dreaming.
Let’s get serious about asking God to use our single years to prepare us to be a blessing to our future husbands.
Let’s change that! Let’s get honest about our shortcomings, our character struggles, and the areas we need to grow. Let’s get serious about asking God to use our single years to prepare us to be a blessing to our future husbands. Whether it’s practical (like directions) or spiritual (like growing in patience), acknowledge the areas you need to grow and ask for God’s help.
LET'S GET SERIOUS ABOUT ASKING GOD TO USE OUR SINGLE YEAR TO PREPARE US TO BE A BLESSING TO OUR FUTURE HUSBAND.
Marriage won’t turn us into Princesses Perfect. Marriage isn’t a magic formula that takes all of our sin and shortcomings away. Marriage takes intentionality, and it starts right now with you.
Let’s start today! Grab a piece of paper and write down four areas where you’d like the Lord’s help to grow or change. Everyone’s lists will look different because each of us has different strengths and weaknesses. Pick two spiritual areas and two practical areas. Maybe something like this:
• I’d like to improve on my cooking skills so that I can bless my family now and in the future.
•I want to learn how to budget and manage money so that I can help make wise financial decisions in the future.
•I want to practice having a grateful attitude so that I can encourage the people around me to have grateful attitudes as well.
•I want to create a plan for consistent, daily prayer time so that I can have a close and thriving relationship with God.
Article from: Lies Young Women Believe
