It has been said, “Man is incomplete until he marries. After that, he is finished.” Unfortunately, this attitude is not only pervasive in culture; it is prevalent in the church. Many will impatiently rush toward marriage assuming all is lost if single past the age of 22 and once married, talk about marriage as if it were medieval torture. All of this stems from what happened before the marriage even began!
Looking back at the girlfriends and the dates, and the time and energy I spent on romantic relationships, I realize how meaningful and unwise it was, and I wish I could do it all again.
Running across monkey bars
Some things aren’t necessarily sinful but are certainly unwise!
So what is wise… 1 Corinthians 7:17-24
Don’t Get Married Until… (not facebook married)
1 – You are serving where God has placed you
(Gen 2:15) – The first thing Adam was doing…
The first step you have to take is to understand your spiritual identity before dating
Jesus designed marriage. Jesus says that marriage is a big deal. Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage should be honored by all.” You honoring your marriage starts right now. Have you ever thought about that? What you do today has huge implications for your future marriage and relationship with your spouse. Whether single or married, our relationships will be better when we are totally focused on Jesus.
I love seeing young people fall in love and get married. I want you to get married, but I don’t want you to get married, I don’t want you to even date until you hear from God. It’s second most important decision you’ll ever make. First… What are going to do with Jesus. Second, who are you going to spend your life with here on earth?
So in the meantime you only need to be worried about that first question, Who is Jesus and what are you going to do with him? If you aren’t content with Jesus alone and what God has given you now you won’t be content in marriage. So serve him now, and live a victorious single life.
1 Cor. 7:29-35
2 – You are obeying what God has commanded
(Gen 2:16-17) - God gives the command…
Read Joshua 7:13. Why should you deal with your junk before getting married?
Ashley’s cousin living with her boyfriend…
If you aren’t pure sexually now, what makes you think you’ll be pure when you’re married? We can’t fool around with porn on the internet or mess around with our boyfriend or girlfriend or choose to live with someone before marriage and be obeying God’s commands. If you want to get married someday begin living like it and obeying what God says. and what he says is this…
Ephesians 5:3 – Not even a hint
Despite all of our junk and sin we have had in our life, God sent Jesus into the world to die for that sin. Because of his death and resurrection, when we place our life in his hands all that old junk is dead, and we can live a new life and begin following him to prepare for an amazing marriage. So rather than ask is this person right for me, ask , “Am I right for this person?” The only way you can answer yes to that is if you are living in obedience with God.
3 – You are waiting on God (Gen 2:21)
Be patient, and with his eyes always be looking to the future.
You can have $5 now or you can wait and be given $1000…
Our culture has a serious misunderstanding of what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. If we look carefully, we will see that many of those false ideas have crept into the church. It is vital that men and women understand biblical manhood and spiritual leadership so that we set ourselves up for success in our potential marriage
GUYS
Do you have a clear vision for marriage?
Are you able to make a living and handle your finances responsibly?
Are you at a place in your relationship with Christ that you could be a spiritual leader to your wife and family?
Biblical manhood starts with a man owning his decision to follow Jesus. A real man will not force sin upon a woman, he isn’t ashamed to talk about Jesus, he has